by Michael Rigg
"Willis here, Mr. Grubbs," came a distant tinny voice.
"Grubbs," Lucien muttered. The glance he gave me showed familiarity with the name at least.
"I have the Property and the valet. What do you have?"
"No sign of the others, Mr. Grubbs. We're moving into place at the platform now."
"If you see Landry, arrest him."
"Yessir." A brief crackle of static as the man cleared his throat. "What shall we charge him with?"
"Corporate espionage and illegal possession of Property without a transport license." He grinned at both of us, “And murder.”
Mr. Grubbs snapped off the wrist radio with his chin and smirked. "But you ain't really Property, are you, doll?"
My mind continued to race, parts of it coming alive I didn't know where there, instructions to myself to act weaker and more frail than the coiled wire within my gut. Where these sudden clouded memories came from I had no idea. I looked down shyly, batting my eyelashes a bit as I pushed another long strand of hair back over my ear.
Lucien started to right himself against the hand rail. He turned to face our assailant. "Grubbs, I knew this was—"
Grubbs swung the pistol toward Lucien and I saw the hammer twitch. "No!" I shouted. Then, as Grubbs swung the weapon back toward my face, I winced and blurted, "I'm not Property, you're right. We lied!"
"Alice, no."
I glanced at Lucien, but took a half step toward Grubbs to keep the butler safe, forcing Grubbs to keep the weapon on me. I needed just eight more inches... for what, I didn't know.
I nodded as I took another half step. "Bryce and Lucien rescued me from an Imperial genetics lab."
"A gene lab?" Grubbs sneered, disbelieving. "You expect me to believe you're a Manufacture? A witch?"
In my periphery, I could see Lucien rapidly shaking his head, probably sensing that I was doing something with the lie to draw Grubbs' attention and save his life. "No. No, Alice, He'll kill—" he started.
That was all I needed.
Even in the shadowy dark I saw Grubbs' jaw clench and his arm straighten. The bill of his riding cap dipped forward as he creased his brow, swinging the .38 toward Lucien.
I found myself moving, my left leg kicking up to give my right leg enough leverage to kick higher. My canvas clad foot connected with the spot on Grubbs' wrist to keep his finger from tensing on the trigger while loosening his grip. My foot shot high, my leg effortlessly stretching as though I were doing the splits vertically. Grubbs cried out as the pistol flew into the darkness. When my leg came down I was within reach of Grubbs. I spun an insane pirouette. My right elbow shot back and connected with his nose. Following the wet crunch, I swung under with my left, the ball of my palm impacting with his sternum as I barked out a, "Whuh!"
He collapsed at my feet unconscious, his nose and two ribs broken. One second later the pistol clattered on the grated walkway near his head. Lucien rushed to pick it up.
"Dear God, Alice, how did you—?"
My eyes were wide as I slowly shook my head, staring down at Grubbs. "I don't know," I offered weakly.
Lucien pocketed the pistol before moving to the man to check his pulse. "He's still alive."
"I know," I said. "I would have hit him higher and to the right if I was going to drive his ribs into his heart."
Lucien only stared at me, the distant lamplight illuminating his fearful eyes like twin moons. "Alice... You... You remember... something?"
I nodded slightly. "I think I'm starting to."
“You moved like some kind of ...assassin.” I could see that his dim face was wary, even scared. I held up a hand to show I was nothing of the sort, though I didn't believe it myself.
“No, Lucien, I... I just defended myself, that's all.”
“What you did was not the act of self defense. You were blazing!” His jowls twitched.
My shoulders slumped. “Lucien, I am no witch and I'm no killer. I honestly don't know how I did that. I would never do anything to hurt you or Bryce, I swear.”
I wished I could believe that, but I couldn't be sure. I looked down at the man on the grate. He might have the answers. Someone had obviously sent him. I nodded with my chin. “You know him?”
Lucien studied Grubbs' beaten form as he stood. He nodded as she glanced between Grubbs and me, his movements still betraying his wariness. "Well, this is an... interesting development... to say the least."
I shrugged shaking my head slightly. "Who is he?"
"Perek Grubbs." Lucien scoffed. "He works for Thorne & Wolfe in New Yorke, a ruthless slug of an Acquisitions Officer as I recall."
Things were starting to piece together in my mind a little at a time. Bryce Landry and Lucien thought, or suggested, that I was somehow an agent of this Thorne & Wolfe, and here was a man who had tried to kill us who believed I was the "Property" of the Landry's. I knew this much: I wasn't the "Property" of either of them. I was caught in the middle of something that may very well turn out to be international. What's more, if this Grubbs was an officer of that company I couldn't possibly be a sleeper agent for them.
So, the question now was, if I'm not a sleeper agent of this Thorne & Wolfe, who was I a sleeper agent for? I looked at Lucien. "What do you suppose he wanted with us?"
"Not us, Alice. You." I noticed he was holding the gun pointed loosely in my direction. The barrel was pointed at my feet, but he was keeping his distance and I knew he could easily lift his hand and shoot me any time he wanted.
"But I'm not—"
"Yes," Lucien glanced over his shoulder. Distant clanking footsteps moved quickly this way. "I know that, my dear, but apparently the corporation does not. Come." He stepped forward and took me by the elbow. I noticed the gun lift and point to my side. "Deeper into the shadows. Someone's coming."
I let him lead me into the darkness, though the adrenaline was still surging through my body. Not that I was anxious to test my apparent martial arts skill on someone else, but if Lucien took this opportunity to finish me and be done with the mystery that plagued him—you and I both, Lucien—I knew I'd be able to bring him down as easily as I did this Perek Grubbs guy.
Grubbs, for his part, remained motionless in the darkness near the railing. Someone walking by wasn't likely to see him, but if he roused before they came by, or if the stranger tripped on him and plummeted over the rail, I couldn't live with myself.
"Lucien, they'll find him," I whispered harshly, as much out of fear of discovery as trying to take his mind off possibly shooting me.
He held me back. "Wait. Let's see who it is, or if they'll stop."
I sought his round silhouette in the darkness. “Lucien, I'm not going to do anything to—”
“Hush!”
We watched as someone stepped in front of us, facing down the alleyway.
It was Bryce. His tall shadowy form was murky in the distant dim gas lights, but I recognized him by his gate and height, and the long flow of the coat that was mine up until an hour ago or so. "Bryce!" I called out.
Lucien tried to hold me back, not seeing what I could see—or at least not identifying his master's son as easily as I could. Could this be another clue as to who or what I was that I could see things so clearly? "Bryce!" I pulled free and ran toward him as Lucien pointed the pistol and followed me at a cautious distance with the weapon, I sensed, trained on my back.
“Stop! Alice, I'll shoo—”
Bryce turned toward me, his face grim. "Alice? Lucien?"
I'm not sure why, but I ran to his arms and wrapped him in a hug of relief. It wasn't that I felt helpless or that I was in love with him or anything, but Bryce Landry was the most knowledgeable—and well-equipped—person I knew in this world. He was my only anchor to sanity. He held me tightly against him as he spoke over my head to Lucien.
"What happened? Where'd that weapon come from, and why are you pointing it at—?"
"Perek Grubbs," the butler said, pointing with the pistol toward the heap behind Bryce and I.
"Agreed," Lucien huffed. He looked around to make sure we were still alone, still holding the pistol on Grubbs. Well, mostly on Grubbs. He was sure to have it ready to defend himself should I make a move. "If they were simply tailing us."
"Perek!" Bryce barked at the man after removing some folded papers and wallet from his inner jacket pocket. "Grubbs!" Bryce lightly smacked the man's cheek to bring him around.
Grubbs' eyes opened and he winced, then his eyes widened and he caught a glimpse of me over Bryce's shoulder. He coughed and winced painfully. "K-Keep her away! What the hell you got goin' on—?"
"Easy," Bryce cautioned, hefting the man to his feet amongst muffled, strained and painful protests, but holding tight to his collar. He turned Grubbs so his back was to the rail and bent him backwards over it as though he meant to drop the man to his death.
“Ow!” Grubbs whined and winced as his ribs were stretched, pressed by Bryce's big hands.
"Bryce, no!" I reached out, but Lucien took my arm. I glanced back at the butler and caught a slight shake of the head as he held me back with one hand and turned the pistol toward my side. I widened my eyes at him.
"He won't hurt the blighter," Lucien said in a low voice. “You just mind yourself, young lady.”
Grubbs held Bryce's wrists as the Captain leaned him over the railing. The man's hat fell off and floated like a heavy leaf about thirty stories down before it landed on a walkway below, still countless stories above the dark Philadelphia streets. He stammered, his eyes wide, twin streams of blood drying darkly under his nostrils. He kept his gaze on me as he spoke to Bryce. "Jus... Just keep her away... She's an animal witch."
"Animal?" Bryce glanced over his shoulder at Lucien and I.
"She almost killed me!" As Grubbs spoke, his voice started to get stuffy, no doubt from the swelling in his nose and face. It came out as, "She albose gilled bee!"
Lucien smiled and tipped an invisible hat in my direction. "Seems our little Alice is quite the stick of dynamite." His smile faded, his tiny eyes accusatory as he looked at me with a wary glance.
Turning back to Grubbs, Bryce said, "No kiddin'... Is that why Thorne & Wolfe is after her, Grubbs? Ain't it enough that I allowed a default on the contracts? Now Bradford Thorne is sendin' goons after us? Why? Because o' her?"
Grubbs finally met Bryce's gaze. His eyes steeled. "I don't know what yer talkin' 'bout, Landry."
"Hells you don't. Why would they send you of all the worms in their employ?"
"I'm alone."
Bryce tipped his head in the direction of the SkyTrain. "What's your interest in the Tesla Bridge, Mr. Grubbs?"
Lucien chimed in. "He has a wrist wireless, captain. He spoke orders to man named Willis to arrest you on sight."
Bryce glanced at Lucien and I. I nodded the truth to what Lucien just reported.
Despite his precarious entanglement, and the fact that the slightest shift in weight from Bryce would send him over the edge, Grubbs' voice hardened against the Captain and when he spoke I could catch small sparks of spittle illuminated by the distant lights. "Thorne sent me, yeah, but only 'cause you high tailed it out of the Center of Trade. He wanna to know why." Grubbs's beady eyes shifted to me. "An' her."
"What about her?" Bryce cinched up on the collar.
"Thorne wanted to know whasso special about her that you'd piss on your whole family."
"So she truly ain't part of all this, has nothin' to do with Thorne and the sea property?"
Flinching against the threat of the drop, Grubbs rapidly shook his head. No.
I glanced at Lucien and saw him blanch slightly, even in the dim. He lowered the pistol and bit his fat lower lip. I was also beginning to realize that my presence did something horrible, that my rescue meant trouble to the Landry family somehow. Lucien's anger over it earlier, and Grubbs' words now, were further evidence that me simply being here was causing trouble.
I reached toward Bryce. "Bryce, I—"
He spun his head toward me. "It's all right, Alice. No matter the cause or effect, I would not have changed what I'd done." Turning back to Grubbs: "You sure you don't know who she is?"
When Grubbs didn't answer, Bryce lifted him off his feet, leaning him back further over the railing.
That loosened him up. Grubbs held tighter to Bryce's arms so he wouldn't fall, his center of gravity now over the rail. He breathed heavily, wheezing against the pain in his chest. "No! Don't! I swear! I swear, we dinna know! Thorne wann uh know! Thass all! I swear!"
Pulling him back to his feet, Bryce cocked his arm back. He glanced to me and said, "Sorry you have to see this, my dear," and punched Perek Grubbs solidly in the face, snapping the man's head back and rendering him unconscious yet again.
"Good work, Captain," Lucien smiled, stepping forward and handing the pistol to Bryce.
Bryce took the gun and tucked it into a deep pocket of his coat. "I guess this creates still more questions."
I looked at him, "I'm sorry, Bryce. My being here has caused—"
"A mystery to unfold," he finished with a tender smile. "Nothin' more. And I love a good mystery," he winked.
"What of this bloody oaf?" Lucien said, pointing to Grubbs.
Bryce took the papers he'd removed from the man's pocket and crumpled them into a tight ball before throwing them over the rail into the street far below. They were followed by his wallet.
"What was that?" I asked.
"His papers and Writ of Acquisition. He won't be able to follow us over the Network now. He's effectively gelded." He touched his brow. "Forgive the colorful metaphor."
I was thankful for the shadows because Bryce's charm warmed my face in the cold and dampness of the developing mystery. "Now what?"
Bryce took a deep breath. "There's still so much to learn, my dear Alice. We know now that you've no affiliation with the scoundrels of Thorne & Wolfe, but now there's this." He motioned to Grubbs' heap, indicating more my handiwork than his own. He nodded to Lucien. "Fetch Emergency Services. Have them take care of Mr. Grubbs. Then meet us at the bridge."
Lucien started to move, but stopped. “Bryce...” He glanced pointedly to me then jerked his head in the opposite direction indicating to Bryce that he wanted a word in private.
I looked at Bryce who looked at me, then back to the butler. “You may speak in front of our guest, Lucien, and if it's somethin' about her especially.”
Lucien fidgeted. He glanced between Bryce and I before eventually stammering, “She moved like a trained assassin, Captain. She's... She's not some simple girl.”
Bryce looked at me and I could see by the dim glints in his eyes that he only passively regarded Lucien's comment. His cheeks dimpled as he smiled. “It's nice to know in this age of unreason that a lovely young lady can protect herself from the likes of weasels like our Mr. Grubbs here.”
“But Bryce—”
“Fetch the Services and meet us at the bridge,” Bryce said, his eyes still on me. “Be quick about it.”
"Right you are," Lucien paused, then nodded and trotted off. He stopped, then turned toward the Spoilery, probably to fetch his hat.
It was then that Bryce took me in his arms and looked deep into my eyes. I didn't think he would kiss me—don't know why that even entered my mind—He just ...looked.
I could see he had so many questions. It hurt that I had no answers to give, especially with all my presence was costing him. I thought about what I had done to Perek Grubbs, about what Pandora had said and the way she acted toward me. The spots on my back. The thought that I was some kind of machine yet to wake up and ...well, I wasn't sure what. I felt like a child sitting with a box of puzzle pieces from a dozen different puzzles.
And I had a feeling more than a few pieces would remain missing.
Bryce to
ok my hand. "Come, Alice," he said tenderly. "Let's get you home."
"What about this Willis character Grubbs mentioned? The others?"
Bryce's smile was warm. This close I could see the dimples. "I have every faith," then he winked at me.
That's when an explosion at the Tesla Bridge lit the sky and we caught glimpses of flaming debris flying off in all directions. Had I known then that the pieces were parts of a human being, I might have lost my sandwich, tomatoes and all.
CHAPTER 10, “Curiosity from Below”
Lucien waited at the front door of Spoilery, his hat and spectacles squarely in place and not looking the least bit the worse for wear considering all he'd been through. As Bryce and Alice approached, he waved them over frantically. "Emergency Services are on their way to Perek Grubbs, suh. But... It seems our little Pandora's Box has gone off it again."
"What do you mean? The explosion?" Alice asked as Bryce started to speak. He stopped and looked to Lucien to answer the questions he would have asked anyway.
"Seems there was a bit of a row at the Bridge. A man has been killed, and someone meddled with the SkyTrain."
"Killed?" Alice's eyes widened and she glanced over her shoulder to Bryce for his reaction to the news.
Lucien nodded brusquely, “But it's the tampering that has me in a whirls.” To Bryce: “It was Thorne, I know it. They've followed us this far, Bryce. I've told you—”
Bryce held out his hands. "Slow down now. Tell me what happened."
Lucien took a deep breath and pointed up the dark grated street toward the United Electric Building. Blue and white lights now flashed near its peak. "There was an explosion. And, apparently, a man was killed. I couldn't get much else from the officer I spoke with, other than that much—though he was quick to reassure me that the train would run on time." Lucien patted himself down. “Really, Bryce. Do I look like a high functioning roustabout?”