by Gin Hollan
"I was fooled into joining this so-called 'resistance.'" Melanie's expression dropped. "A friend said she could get me work on a project in the private sector and said it paid really well. The only catch was the privacy requirement. Everyone has to sign a do-not-disclose contract, in order to protect the work. I'm one of the cleaning ladies."
"They're using the 'war resistance' angle to get workers? That's almost brilliant."
"Well, they're apparently too busy to take out their own trash, or disinfect toilets - let's not forget that part of the job. Lucky me."
"You do this, plus work at the police station?"
"Wait - did you know Harbertrope offered me my position back?" Her eyes narrowed, then she shrugged. "I’m quitting this one. I found out they’re the ones who tampered with my brain, and I’ve been using this cleaning job to find proof."
Melanie reached under the edge of a desk and pulled on a strip of tape.
"Here. This is something you'll want." She held out a two-inch flat metal disk.
"Is that a coin?" Arabeth walked over and took it. It was three centimetres across, three millimetres thick, perfectly round, silver, and heavy. An image was stamped into both sides, like a coin. One side had a flower with five large petals. The image on the other side was a standing Egyptian cat wearing a collar.
"It's what we carry to prove we work here, so to speak. I'd almost forgotten I'd taped this one here, in case I lost mine. Before I decided to quit." She suddenly looked sad. "My mind is not what it was, and even then, it wasn't great. I feel like an idiot most of the time."
"I'll need a story to go with the token," Arabeth said.
"That's easy. New gadgeteers show up now and then, when an old one blows themselves up or quits. It's the token that matters." Melanie pulled one out of an interior jacket pocket, holding it up between her thumb and forefinger. "I would have turned it in, but Stein refused to let me quit."
A large explosion shook the cavern, causing fragments of stone and dirt to rain from above. Covering Marble with her jacket panel, Arabeth held her breath a moment until the dust cleared. Caverns, especially new ones, could crumble silently from above, surprising those suddenly buried by it.
"That was them - the gadgeteers." Melanie pointed farther back into the cave.
Arabeth nodded. "Is that common?"
Melanie nodded. "It’s a good thing you came now. The way they're going, one of their devices will blow the entire cavern apart soon." Melanie snickered as she walked out of the control area.
Somewhere behind them a dog barked. Just once. Something in Melanie's posture changed, but she didn't slow or stop. If anything, she sped up.
// Chapter 33 //
THE MAZE TO THE gadgeteer's area was purely functional, designed to suppress sound - specifically explosions. As they came up on the centre, Melanie stayed back and waved Arabeth in. Arabeth was accustomed to other people treating her this way, but not Melanie. She stopped and frowned at her friend.
Melanie shrugged and waved her forward. "I'm not well-liked in there. I accidentally tossed out something that didn't look like a contraption in the making. Several parts were irreplaceable, and irretrievable."
Standing in the entrance, Arabeth cleared her throat.
Turning, Graham frowned then approached her to quickly clasp her hand in greeting. "Arabeth, my friend, what brings you into this dismal place?" He caught sight of Melanie and frowned. "Come in. Meet the others."
"Thank you, Graham," she smiled, walking in.
He must have noted her confusion. He leaned close. "Are you here to get us out, or has Stein trapped you, too?"
"I came to see if you'd loan out your Calibrator for a day or three," Arabeth tried to keep her tone light.
"Ah, well, you should take it and go. I’m not going to be here much longer, anyway.”
“What does that mean?”
He moved close enough to whisper. “I’m going to blow this place up in about...” he looked at his watch, “eighteen minutes. You need to leave, now.”
“What’s going on here?” she whispered back.
“They’re planning an invasion, but they don’t want to rule Blastborn. They want to destroy it.” He let that sink in before continuing. “I have charges placed that will close this cavern forever.”
A flurry of footfalls proceeded someone running into the area, skidding to a stop, and looking around. Graham and Arabeth took a step apart, looking to see who the new arrival was.
“Samuel Hicks?” Graham sputtered. “Are you lost?”
Sam spotted Arabeth and hurried over, taking hold of her arm. “You shouldn’t be here.”
“Vic Dane sent me to get him,” she explained, remembering her cover story.
“Alas, I'm not sure I can break away right now…." He looked at a desk with scattered graph paper covering half, and metal bits on the other. “My current work is... critical.”
"It's just for a half day. He needs your expertise in light and luminosity to solve his current dilemma. As well as the calibrator," she said, making a face.
"Technically, it's a spanner, but that makes your point I suppose." He glanced at Melanie. "You may as well come in. We see you there."
Melanie inched forward but stopped.
The four stood in a tight circle, talking low.
“We need to leave – all of us,” Graham said. “This place is going to fall apart slowly enough for the intelligent to get out in time, but irreversibly. I will explain later, and no, you can’t change my mind.”
"What do you mean?" Melanie asked, eyes wide.
A set of strong, steady footsteps thudded across the dirt floor getting dramatically louder as they wove past the sound buffering panels.
"Another unscheduled visitor," Graham grumbled as he stood tall and turned to face the entrance. Sam pulled Arabeth behind him and did the same.
"Well, how are my favourite Makers doing tonight? Any new widgets, doomahickeys, or thingamabobs today?" An unreasonably tall, thin, well-tanned man in a four piece suit stepped into the light. Immediately behind him were three others, also in suits, though much less expensive, and much less tall and tan.
This would be Tanner Stein, she realized, and he wasn't tanned. That was his natural skin tone. His diction was flawless. His posture stood him taller than he actually was. Arabeth caught herself standing up taller, well-centred over her heels, as she'd been taught. She could match him in education, manners, and bearing, but she doubted that would be useful right now.
She peered around Sam to see Graham and Melanie, both of whom had changed their posture to be somewhat on guard.
"I said, what is new here? Surely the new girl has something to offer. A mannered guest knows to bring something on the first visit." He seemed to stare right through Sam to her.
Suddenly Graham reached over, took her hand and pulled her out of from behind Sam.
"I'm sorry, Sir. This is my fiancé. She snuck in. It won't happen again."
Sam said nothing, matching the posture and bearing of the other man.
Arabeth pulled her hand free, rubbing her arm. This shuttling around was embarrassing. What was he thinking?
"This is why we don't hire the married ones," he growled. "Why didn't you tell me you were engaged?"
"It happened all of a sudden, at a dinner last week," he said, blushing. "Her father hasn't given his blessing yet."
"So, it's not confirmed. Good. Miss Barnes, I hope you'll consider rebuffing his advances and staying on here, after your colleagues have briefed you. I need every gadgeteer I can get, and to have the two preeminent practitioners of the area under the same roof, metaphorically, is ideal. Working, not playing, Mister Halister. We can talk about the matter of your romantic entanglement later."
"I understand, Sir."
Melanie looked surprised, but no more than the rest of the people gathered.
"Miss Barnes, right now we need to talk about the manner of your work engagement. Follow me," Tanner Stein said.
He turned to talk to the people he’d arrived with and fired off his commands concisely and clearly. His military bearing was undeniable as he pivoted back to her on his heel. Not willing to admit she was intimidated in the least, Arabeth smirked and stepped forward to give a slight bow. Nothing subservient, just polite. Graham’s revelation would no doubt bear out, but she was curious. There was no doubt he was an enemy, but there was no cause for enmity at this phase of their acquaintance. Besides, she still had one of her listening devices stashed away.
"Engaged?" Melanie mouthed the question as Arabeth walked over.
"And you're fired, Miss Trelane. We are a serious company, working on serious projects. I don't have time for games, whether she’s your best friend or not."
"Wait, Sir. What?" she sputtered.
Graham nodded, looking amused, but Arabeth wasn't sure what to think.
"Amund, take Miss Trelane and Mr Hicks to the exit. Miss Trelane,” he held a hand out. “Your coin, please."
// Chapter 34 //
ARABETH FOLLOWED Tanner Stein to a small, well-lit office. Glancing at one of the lanterns, she frowned. There was no flame, just a hard white stone in the middle, radiating light.
"Miss Barnes, no doubt you've heard that people are increasingly calling on the government to regulate your industry. There is a rumour that they’ll require Gadgeteers to be licensed through them and only work on government sanctions projects. My government is planning no such limitations." He slammed his fist down on his desk to get her attention. “The man I work for, Sebastian, would offer any defecting gadgeteer immunity from the crimes of their predecessors, and a generous work allowance if they were to come into his employ.”
Arabeth said nothing, still trying to decide if he was playing a twisted game, or believed the things he was saying.
" I understand you are the one who disarmed the automaton. It was sent in by someone with too much time on their hands and no sense of propriety. Well, and a weakness for cash. That aside, we believe that modernization is the only way to support the growing population. You've been taught my country is the enemy, but I ask you, when is the last time you heard of an invading force on your soil? Your people have been exiled, forbidden to walk even the other areas of your own country."
“We’re in exile?”
"Correct. There was a war, and your progenitors committed crimes worthy of their deaths, your exile, and a complete re-write of the history books.”
"I think you need to sit down and write all this down so you can see where you are contradicting yourself. How can I work freely with that history in everyone’s mind as they work with me? How can I assess the veracity of your claims when I know nothing of you or your country, except to know that you are sending out automatons that drive people mad," Arabeth was taken aback by his charade. "And using my city as your testing ground." And he was selling her the same lie she’d been told by everyone except her grandfather. She wasn’t buying it this time either.
"For that, I do apologize. We were led to believe that…"
"Don't say it," Arabeth cut him off. "You can't bargain your way out of the truth. There is no rationale that will bring me to forgive what you've done to my city, to my friends, my family, regardless of what any great-grandparent of mine may have done." She stepped back, closer to the door. If the explosives went off while she was in here, she'd be trapped. She was a long way from the exit.
"Alright, then I must assume you intend to subvert any work I put you to."
"That would seem obvious, yes."
He put a hand to his chin, as though thinking. "How might I motivate you to do otherwise?"
She felt her jaw clench. This was starting to feel like a conversation with her mother.
"Hiring me is the wrong idea, if keeping this place secret is one of your mandates," she snapped. "Too many people know my work, and will be looking for me to continue it. As well, every minute I remain in your employ, I learn more about you operations and methods. That being said, I am keenly interested in staying alive."
"You may not understand, but my aim is not to kill. Were you to work here, I would let you leave unharmed."
"Eventually."
"Exactly."
Arabeth looked at the man, considering how much information she could get in the time she had. She may be the distraction, but that wasn't her concern. The risk was in timing the devices, and Graham was an expert at that. What he couldn't have accounted for was this man accosting her, or Arabeth taking this potentially one-shot chance at getting into his head. Were they still placing his explosives, or had the decided to wait?
"I'm not sure how you can view yourself as a benevolent leader, when your very work prevents the peace you claim to want." Arabeth started hoping for a rumble, a bang, anything to signal she could run. She was going to lose her composure soon. She was certain, based on the slight tremble in her right hand.
"You will remember the name Tanner Stein, Miss Barnes. Mark my words. And if you wouldn't mind, move away from the door. We still have things to discuss."
Arabeth's cheek twitched but she didn't move. How quickly could she get the door open, and run out of his range? Before she could so much as blink, Stein blocked her path. Fast travel was a benefit of long legs, she supposed.
"You hear me, but you aren't listening, Miss Barnes. This is a means to an end. I know your little city is a soft spot in the hearts of those running this backwards country. You should be grateful I haven't done more than I have. Now I won't have to hurt anyone else. Keeping you here will get your parent's attention, which will in turn get the Capital's attention. Money is what makes the world go around. I've gone to a lot of work to make my point in a way you people understand."
"You think interfering with a couple south-shore bankers is going to get attention?"
"I'm talking about steam works and automatons. Do you think the rest of the world doesn't look here and laugh?"
"We are an obscure, out of the way city walled in by a mountain. Why are you attacking us instead of the capital?"
"You know you're the favourite sister, don't you?" he said with a twisted smile.
"What do you mean?" her confusion coupled with her anger, mixing her thoughts up thoroughly.
"Blastborn is a legend, even among your own countrymen. If I can capture it, the rest will follow."
He looked smug and his wide eyes made him seem a little bit unhinged. She found herself backing up, into the wall.
Blastborn was a legend? Maybe. She'd never met anyone who'd crossed out, through the mountain and come back. No doubt they took stories with them. But what was the other side like? She squared up against him, then realized that was the wrong body language. Too late to back down, she decided to give his ego a little pinch, on the side and see what happened.
"Tell me, if you're so sophisticated, how is it that you so desperately need the external validation of others in authority?" Her heart raced as the words came out. Time mattered more than timing. She had to get out of the cave. Graham's timers had to be running out any second now.
That made him pause and his complexion went a deep red.
"Ah, so there's the truth of it," she murmured.
He raised his arm up, as though to strike her. Arabeth flinched away but raised one arm to block his hit. He stopped just short of hitting her and instead grabbed her arm.
Seeing his side unprotected, Arabeth pulled a lipstick-sized cylinder out of her jacket pocket and jabbed hard. He pulled back, jerking her off-balance. She pushed the arm forward and twisted it up against his thumb, breaking his grip.
Stein's other arm whipped forward to grab for her, but she ducked and reached for the door. As she opened it, the ground shook violently, knocking her sideways. Regaining her feet, she ran forward and covered her ears against the rush of sound and chaos from the explosives. Dust and rocks fell in every direction.
She looked as she ran, hoping to catch her bearings. The roof ran up high as it went deeper into the moun
tain. All she had to do was head into the short end. She fully intended to be on the right side of this mountain when that happened.
Her friends should be clear of the area already.
"Marble!" she called out. She had to make sure Marble made it out alive. If she'd followed Arabeth to Tanner's office, she should be close by.
As she reached a wall, she slowed enough to turn without slamming into it. Something grabbed her collar from behind, nearly pulling her off her feet.
"You won't get away this easy," she recognized Tanner's voice.
Turning to face him she's yelled as loud as she could to make him hesitate. Within seconds she had hit him several times in vulnerable locations and slapped a pair of wrist restraints on.
"There’s no use fighting me!” he yelled, profanities soon followed as he fought to recover from what she’d done, pulling at the restraints as she ran.
She saw the door leading out of the mountain wide open and ran for it. The rumble from above echoed louder by the second. The guards would've made their exit already, but she would have to risk getting caught just to survive.
Where was Marble? Had she run out when the explosions started?
"Marble," she called out as loud as she could. Would she know which way to go? "Marble, over here!" Arabeth yelled again.
Her dusty grey and white fox stood to put her front paws on Arabeth's legs. Snatching her up, Arabeth put her in the satchel and hurried outside. Nothing looked familiar.
Rocks or no rocks, Stein wouldn't be far behind. Thankfully, there were no guards in sight.
Outside, she knew something was wrong.
The mountain moaned and crumbled, leaving her with no choice but to move forward but the tree line was wrong. The woods here had been cut down, leaving a large clear-cut area. She ran forward anyway, to the trees. Dust and rumbling continued from behind and she turned back to look.
Turning, she saw the exit was gone and the side of the mountain had started to slide down, sending clouds of debris flying.
Yes, she was on the wrong side, but it was almost a miracle that she and Marble had made it out. Had her friends? Her heart hammered harder for a moment as she fought to regain her mind. They had to have gone out the other side.