by Sean Kennedy
“They can be salvaged,” Ezra told him.
Before Tobias could reply, the sound of a smaller engine caught their attention. Coming in to land was one of the Icarus decoys. He moved stealthily, running toward them and pulling his wings in behind him at the same time. As he drew up to them, he yanked off his goggles and Ezra was taken aback by the fact that it was Cornelius Mace.
“Mace,” he stammered.
“Howdy, Kneebone,” Cornelius grinned. “I guess now you know why I was such a supporter of our friend Icarus here.”
They didn’t have time for explanations.
“You have to get out of here,” Tobias admonished him. “What the hell are you thinking?”
“Jackson reported you were down. I brought you my wings.”
“I have an escape,” Tobias said, nodding toward Ezra.
Mace shielded his eyes against the sun, looking up at where the Lilliput and the Kagu were still facing each other off. “May not be the best option for you.”
“It’s the option I’m taking,” Tobias growled, and Ezra warmed at his determination.
Mace ignored him and started taking off his wings.
“Cornelius!” Tobias yelled, and Ezra was surprised at the familiarity and the ferocity in the tone. “Take an order when it’s given to you!”
“Not this time, partner,” Mace replied.
“How are you getting out of here, then?” Ezra asked.
Scratching at his temple, Mace laughed. “Thought I’d thumb a lift with an old friend.”
“We already have a passenger. Put those wings back on,” Ezra growled.
Cornelius opened his mouth to argue, but his expression slackened as his chest exploded with a spray of blood that hit Ezra in the face. Cornelius sagged immediately, and Ezra caught him. The surprise made him stagger, and he fell to his knees with the other man. He was vaguely aware of Tobias trying to pull him away to safety, but all he could do was look into Cornelius’s eyes as the light faded from them. There wasn’t even time for one last goodbye to his once-friend, who had seemingly become one of Tobias’s closest cohorts without him ever knowing.
Suddenly all sound seemed to fade back in, and he could hear Tobias yelling. “Come on, Ezra!”
It was combined with Jazz’s frantic, garbled yelling in his ear. She was probably saying the same thing.
He had to leave Cornelius’s body in the dirt, where blood was now pooling beneath him. Even as Tobias was now pulling him to his feet, Ezra had enough presence of mind to grab the wings.
Bodies were now spilling out of the Kagu, rappelling down much like Ezra had, and some had already hit the mesa floor. Ezra could see Jazz landing the Lilliput, and without speaking, began to maneuver Tobias toward it. Bullets sprayed the dirt around them, but they continued haphazardly, avoiding being hit by sheer luck more than divine intervention.
That was when Ezra began to lose all hope. Frailden was now acting in his own best interests and disregarding any guidelines Harding might have put down before. It didn’t matter to Frailden and the crew of the Kagu whether Icarus was brought in alive or dead—it was easier for them to bring him in dead.
If only they could get to the Lilliput in time—
Still shoving Tobias along, Ezra began to throw the wings over his shoulders.
“What are you doing—”
“Shut up!”
But nobody ever told Tobias Daedalus to shut up. “Ezra—”
Ezra ignored him, fumbling with the straps as he tightened them, while they were still running along. “You have to fly, Tobias.”
“I can’t leave you!”
“You can! I have Jazz to get me out of here. I can still say that you evaded escape from me, thanks to them bumbling in—”
“It’s too dangerous—”
“Just do it.”
“One man is already dead because of me!”
It was no time to think of Cornelius Mace and his sacrifice. Ezra concentrated on the last strap, and was relieved as it slid into place. He looked up just to see a man hitting the ground ahead of them, his chute billowing around his feet as he straightened up and aimed a pistol at them, directly centered on Tobias’s chest.
Ezra yanked on the starting motor, and the wings opened. In one deft motion, he stepped around and in front of Tobias, hissing in his ear. “Go—for me.”
He heard Tobias yelling in response, but it was covered by the sound of a pistol firing. Ezra felt pain burst within his chest, and he looked down, surprised to see his own blood cover where Cornelius’s had been before.
“Get out of here, Tobias,” he managed to spit out before falling to his knees.
He tried to turn, to see for himself whether Tobias was in the air, trying for one last shot at freedom.
But everything went dark.
Epilogue
EZRA KNEEBONE came to the slow realization that he probably wasn’t dead, as he found himself floating in and out of consciousness over the next few days. If it even was days—time had no meaning to him during this period.
He wanted to talk, but found he couldn’t. He knew Jazz was one of the many vague faces floating above his bed, but only because of her voice. His sight was bleary, perhaps affected by the intense pain he felt in his chest.
“Will he make it?” That was one of the things he was sure he heard her ask.
“The doctor’s the best money can buy.”
Lady Bart. His savior yet again. Once again, he could only tell by the voice.
At times he was aware of someone prodding at him, doing something to his chest. Pain would follow, and then he would be fed something and slip away into blissful, narcotic-induced sleep.
Over time, the pain lessened and he became more aware of his surroundings. Able to finally speak again, he heard Jazz’s voice and managed to rasp, “Tobias?”
“Later, Ezra. Later.”
Things had to be bad if she was calling him by his first name. But sleep called again.
There came the time when everything around him refocused again, and he was able to sit up without assistance. He waited until he was alone with Jazz again, and asked her as calmly as he could, “Tell me, Jazz. Did Tobias get away?”
Her face drawn, she took his hand. “Ezra—”
He could feel his face getting hot and his stomach twisting, although there was barely anything in it. “Jazz, for all that is—”
With her other hand she stroked his cheek gently. “I saw him fly away from you. At first he tried to fly with you in his arms, but the weight was too much for the wings. They shot him in the arm, and he dropped you.”
“He tried to take off with me?” Ezra asked in wonder. After all he had done to try to make him free, and he wasted precious moments which could have seen him safe—
“Of course he did. You think he wouldn’t?”
“What happened next?”
“You fell back to the ground, and he had no choice but to fly on. It would have been suicidal to go back for you, and I guess he knew that I would get to you. So he flew on, and rather than risk him getting away, they fired upon him….” Jazz broke off, and covered her face for a moment. She took a deep breath, and looked back at Ezra again. “The wings… well, they disintegrated. He fell, Ezra. He fell from the sky and into the crevices of the mesa. They searched for him for days, but you know what the mesas can be like. There are places they can’t get into… everyone saw him fall. He’s gone.”
Ezra wished for the blanked-out state he had been in before to return, but this time he wasn’t so lucky. He knew Jazz wanted to stay and comfort him, but he told her to go. It was only when the door closed behind her that he allowed himself to cry. He wouldn’t allow himself the pain of believing against hope that Tobias had somehow escaped. Jazz would have given him some sliver of optimism if she believed it possible.
It seemed days that he lay in his bed again, unwilling to pull himself together, until Lady Bart arrived with a sheaf of papers in her hand. “Jazille is worrie
d about you,” she said coolly, but with deep concern. “Truth be told, she hasn’t stopped worrying about you ever since that day.”
“Am I not allowed to grieve?” Ezra asked.
“Of course you are,” Bart responded. “Look at me, for heaven’s sake, I’m still in mourning wear. I lay in bed for weeks when my husband died, but you have to get up one day. And that day is today.”
“Why?”
“Because we have a business to run.” She began to lay the papers across his blankets. “I’ve drawn these up with my lawyers. All they need is your signature. Jazille and I have already signed.”
The pen that she handed him felt heavier than it should have. “It would have saved a lot of heartache if I had agreed to this from the very beginning, I guess.”
He was surprised by her leaning in and kissing him on the forehead. “It wouldn’t have been worth never knowing him, my dear.”
Ezra wanted to believe that, but the pain was still too raw. His hand shook slightly as he signed the papers, but his signature was legible. He handed the pen back to her and stared at the documents. “I guess we’re partners now.”
“Jazille allowed me to look at the designs for the new ships,” Bart told him. “You’re a very talented man, Mr. Kneebone. Everybody will want one of these ships for their own personal use when they roll off the manufacturing lines. Of course, I expect the first one.”
Ezra smiled, a slight smile, but a smile indeed. “Maybe we’ll call the fleet the Bart.”
Lady Bart laughed. “No, my friend. We’ll think of something better.”
When she left, he groggily got to his feet and began pouring a bath. Bart was right; he had to get up sometime.
The first thing he did, after meeting with Jazz to assure her that he was back amongst the living again and to start arranging meetings with engineers and manufacturers, as well as factory space, was to journey into Whiskeytown.
Not for pleasure. He didn’t feel like there was any pleasure to be had at the moment. It was strictly business.
Lee was at his old haunt, and he recognized his old customer as soon as he approached him. “It’s been a while, sir.”
Ezra took him by the arm before Lee turned to lead him upstairs. “I’m not here for that. I’m here to offer you a job.”
Lee laughed. “You’ve come to take me away from all this? Sorry, sir, but I’ve heard that one before.”
“I’m serious,” Ezra said. “And really, what are you going to do later on? Whores have a short shelf life, especially when younger and prettier ones move in.” He hated having to speak so harshly, but he still felt an emptiness, a baseness, ever since those events on top of the mesa that made him blunt and forthright. After all, what was the use in not being direct? It got you nowhere.
“You’re full of compliments today,” Lee said, looking unhappy.
“Just so you know,” Ezra continued, “I’m not doing this to make you my own personal whore. Whatever happened between us is past, and I don’t want it to continue. What I am offering you is a job, and stability.”
Trying to look aloof, but failing, Lee said, “I’ll think about it.”
Turning on him, Ezra walked away, calling over his shoulder, “Don’t think about it too long.”
And so life continued on. Lee, as it turned out, didn’t take very long to think about a new job at all. By the end of the week, he was a member of the team, setting up meetings and helping Jazz and Ezra with the monotonous tasks that always seemed to slip away from them and could prove costly if they continued to do so. Contracts were signed with other businesses, and it seemed that a lot of people were beginning to take interest in the idea of small, personal dirigibles for the “common man” (“And woman!” Jazz added indignantly). Pre-orders were already bringing in money, and Lady Bart said it would be no time at all before she was paid back in full and they would all start to profit.
Life seemed good. But Ezra still moved in a daze, his thoughts still affected by Tobias whenever his brain had a moment not taken up by the rigors of his new work life. He thought of journeying out to visit Ruth, but dismissed it as being too painful—probably for the both of them. He couldn’t imagine seeing Ruth without seeing some vestiges of her brother imprinted upon her features, or looking out upon the barn where he and Tobias had shared each other for the first time. Better to remain in Shrevesport where he was only haunted by memories and not tangible remnants of a life now lost to him.
But all that was to change.
Night was falling as Ezra locked the office behind him, stepping out onto the street. People rushed by, eager to get home out of the cold. Ezra wrapped his coat around him and dug his hands into his pockets.
It was a little over three months since Tobias, although known in that capacity as Icarus, had been declared dead by the government. At times it felt like three days; other times, it felt like three years. No matter how elastic the time felt, the pain still hadn’t lessened. Despite what Lady Bart had assured him, it wasn’t getting any better. You open your heart for once, and this was how you got treated.
He almost didn’t hear the other man as he passed by the mouth of the alley that ran between his building and the next, and it would have been easy to continue walking on, but something made him stop. Something about the timbre of the voice, an innate recognition was sparked within him….
“Kneebone.”
Ezra turned, and when the man stepped out of the shadows, he felt his knees give way and he stumbled forward. The shock was just too great. Had his grief led him now into hallucination?
“Ezra,” Tobias said, catching him easily and pulling him back into the privacy of the alley. His breath, hot and real, brushed against Ezra’s ear; no vision could cause that tactile a response. “I’m sorry it had to be this way you found out, but no matter how I could have done it… well, it would have been a shock anyway.”
A shock? A mere shock? Ezra regained his balance and stepped away from Tobias to take him in more fully. He was leaning heavily on a cane, and as Ezra’s eyes grew accustomed to the dimness of their surroundings, he could see that there were scars and burns across Tobias’s left cheek and down his neck.
“It really is you.” Ezra reached out for him, and pulled back, before taking Tobias’s chin in his hand and regarding him gently. “Jazz thought you were dead.”
“It’s true. Icarus did die on that mesa,” Tobias murmured. “However, Tobias did not. He just had to bide his time before he could reveal himself.”
“And recover.” Ezra winced as he looked closer at the injuries on his lover’s face.
“Still doing that,” Tobias said with a bitter smile.
Ezra’s eyes widened as the realization struck him once more. “You’re alive!”
“I am. And so are you.”
Their full stories would be exchanged later—of how Tobias had indeed crashed into the crevices of the mesa and, badly injured, had crawled in further to escape discovery. He had been found much later by his Icarus decoys, loyal followers who had traced the signal of the very wrist cuff Ezra had given him. He had been spirited away to safety but spent much of the first few weeks after the event unconscious. Once he had awoken, it had been necessary to remain in hiding; Icarus had died, but Tobias couldn’t appear straight away lest someone put two and two together, such as his father, despite the likelihood of it happening being a long shot.
“Even Ruth only found out recently, and she would have liked to have killed me again,” Tobias said wryly. “She came to town to see how you were, because we couldn’t find out anything through the news services—”
“I never saw her.”
“Well, no. She was trying to speak to Lady Bart, and when she went to meet her at the council offices, she saw my father and fled so he wouldn’t know she was there.”
They were now lying in bed together, having explored each other anew and catalogued each injury as it was written upon their skin. There was still so much to talk about, to find out, b
ut for now, once the basics were dealt with, they were happy just to lie together and think only about each moment as it happened. The world outside Ezra’s small bedroom was inconsequential as long as they remained wrapped up in each other’s warmth.
“Just tell me one thing for now,” Ezra murmured. “Why did you decide to give up being Icarus?”
Tobias rolled over onto Ezra’s chest and rested his chin upon it. “You, you fool,” he said honestly. “I knew I wanted to do it when you came to me in the cave, but I was stubborn. I had to figure out a way to end it first. I had made plans, but I wanted to make sure they would work.”
“You could have asked for my help.”
“I know. But I wanted to do it without getting you hurt.”
Ezra guffawed so much Tobias almost bounced off his chest. “The irony, in hindsight, is amazing.”
“I know that now,” Tobias conceded. “Before, it was just me to worry about. But I dragged other people in, and they got hurt because of me. Worse. Cornelius got killed.”
The ghost of their mutual acquaintance was awakened between them.
“I still dream about it,” Ezra said softly.
“I don’t have to dream to see it still.” Tobias sat up and wiped at his face. “He made the decision to help me, knowing the danger. But it doesn’t make it any better.”
“I know.”
“That day was meant to be the last time. It was my pride and my ego that led me to challenge their plan. Had I known what would happen… but that can’t be changed.”
Ezra reached up and pulled him back down. “I told you, we can find other ways to continue Icarus’s legacy.”
“When I saw you shot, it killed me. When I had to drop you, I didn’t care anymore whether I lived or died. It seems funny now that we’re both here, together. It seems like a dream.”
“Then don’t let me wake up,” Ezra said, kissing him.
“We have to wake up. We have to leave this room at some point.”
“And what do we do from there?”
“Icarus is dead. Long live Tobias Daedalus.” Tobias grinned. “I have to start living up to my old name again. Probably scare the bejesus out of my father when I show my ugly head—the son who shamed him so abominably. And I have to get adjusted to living in a big city again. I need someone to show me the town; let me know who to avoid, who to trust.”
