Project Enterprise

by Pauline Baird Jones

  He clambered over the last fall of rock, then ghosted down the small wash, choosing an angle that would bring him behind the automaton at what he hoped was a safe distance. It stood in full moonlight on the rise, so he’d know if it moved—Chance stopped. Something odd about its head. Curious, he eased closer, pausing at intervals in case it reacted—the back of the automaton’s head was open, a tangle of wires trailing out the opening.

  What the—he climbed up on a tumble of rocks next to it, coming at it from the side just in time to see the eyes pulse bright, fade, pulse again, then fade to dark. He moved in, walked around it, still careful, but almost certain it was disabled. Questions swirled in his head, but did he care about the how and why? He could follow Ani—his thoughts fragmented again.

  An airship.

  Silent like the automaton, not even a hiss of steam coming from it, it squatted on the trail they’d passed on their way to the tinaja. He frowned. Airships existed in many realities, but as far as he knew, automatons existed only in one place—and in fiction. If trouble was incoming from his past—well his past was actually his future—he didn’t want to lead it to Ani. The deep silence made his senses twitch with all kinds of warnings he knew better than to ignore.

  Soundless, Colt .45 ready, he approached the silent airship, circled it twice before slipping aboard. He paused at the prow to process the quiet, letting his instincts lead. The envelope creaked as a small breeze whispered the length, but nothing else broke the silence. So why did he sense he wasn’t alone?

  Could be getting paranoid, though he had good reasons for it.

  He used the engine house to cover his back as he drifted along the length. It wasn’t exactly like the others he’d seen. This one was longer, seemed to have some seating—the feel of a cold barrel against the back of his head confirmed his gut, though he’d have preferred to find out he was right from the other end of the weapon.

  Ani spent the first hour of the ride trying hard not to think about what she’d seen, what Chance had said. But as the moon climbed—again—not thinking got harder and harder to manage.

  We’re not where we were. The lights, they did something to time.

  She’d write him off as crazy, but for the moon. And the feel of the night air, it was different from how it had been when they left the camp. And that thing. And the way it had felt before things…changed.

  Could be dreaming, which would be a pity, cause then she wouldn’t have her first ever proposal. Or the faint hope of an actual wedding. She touched her chest, where she’d shoved the bills into the corset that helped flatten her chest. The thought of it did help—if it were real. It felt real. Could she dream—or even imagine a kiss like that? Warmed her up nice even now, just thinking about that kiss. Course, thinking about that thing killed warm. If she was dreaming, it was a powerful clear dream. Didn’t seem to be waking up if she were asleep.

  Should probably worry more about Pa, but he hadn’t exactly put himself out for her. He’d sent her off into the night with Chance and then most likely gone to sleep—after imbibing some of his elixir for his aches and pains. She’d wait the couple of days for Chance, but if he didn’t show, if he couldn’t show, she’d take the chance he’d offered and take the train east. Pa might waste a few days looking for her, but then he’d make his way to Marfa. She’d want to be gone before he got there. Be better for her if his “son” was lost in the desert.

  Instead of the hotel, she’d go to Angelica. She’d been kind to them last year, might even suspect Ani was a girl. Could help her get some proper clothes. Pa’d never suspect that. Angelica could take a note to the hotel for Chance, tell him where to find her. Or her Roberto could. They both worked at the hotel, though Roberto dreamed of working for the railroad. He did like steam engines and such. Be easy for either of them to leave the note in a way that no one would know where it came from, just in case Pa got the notion to ask a few questions. Was it wrong to hope Chance did come? Cause she did, she hoped something fierce.

  Hope. Been a long time since she’d felt it.

  The angle of the barrel, the feel of the air, told Chance the assailant was above him, crouched on the steering platform. An awkward angle. He should have kept his distance.

  “Give me a good reason not to pull the trigger right now.” The voice was familiar—and not.

  Ani? Made sense there’d be another of her in a new reality, though it always felt strange when it happened, stranger now that he was engaged to his version. He made his turn with less than the lethal force he’d originally planned, knocking the barrel up and pulling her down from her perch where she hung in his hold, struggling like a wild thing.

  “Let me go!”

  Didn’t see the point of holding her when he had her gun, so he did. She staggered a few feet, then faced him, all of her on defense. This Ani wore a dress and her hair had probably been up before he grabbed her. Now it hung to one side in an untidy, blonde mass. So this was how his Ani would look in a dress, as a woman. Had a few more curves than his—or Ani’d done something to minimize them. The idea intrigued—and gave him another reason to survive and make it to Marfa to claim his bride.

  “I’m not going back!”

  That got his mind back in the moment. “Back? To Marfa?”

  “Where else? You can tell your boss I’m not marrying him no matter what he does!”

  The hairs on the back of his neck lifted. There’d been no sign of any man in Ani’s life in the other reality, but then she’d been dressed as a boy. “Where’s your Pa?”

  “My Pa?” Her brows rose. “My father is, well, he’s in Marfa and, as you well know, perfectly happy to let me pay his gambling debts.”

  Now the hairs went on high alert. “Who is this boss?” He smelled trouble incoming. Her brows arched higher. “Let’s pretend I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  She huffed out a sigh, half glanced around like she expected someone. “Doc Smith, of course. He runs Marfa since he got control of the ’tons.”

  Smith. He tried not to jerk at the name. It was a common one on Earth. Didn’t mean it was his Smith. Or even the ancestor of his Smith. But he was someone willing to force a woman into marriage.

  And he’d just sent Ani—this one’s twin—right to him.

  Chance opened his mouth to tell this version of Analisse that he had to leave, but they both heard the sound of a horse approaching at a fair pace. She tensed and he for sure tensed. Was this his Ani returning or the person Analisse expected?

  “Analisse?” It sounded like Everly. Chance shifted into the shadows.

  Her shoulders slumped a bit, but her chin set in a way that reminded him of his Ani. “Please—” She cut off the rest of what she’d intended to ask, when Everly rode into sight and pulled his horse to a stop.

  “This was a foolish move, girl. All you’ve done is put Roberto in danger, too.”

  “What do you mean?” She tried to sound tough, but her voice quivered.

  “He’s not coming. Doc knows about him. Had him arrested. He’s going to hang him in the morning if you don’t come back.”

  “If I don’t marry him, you mean.”

  Everly shifted and looked away.

  “He’ll kill him if you do marry him,” Chance said, stepping out of the shadows weapons ready. Didn’t matter if this was his Smith or a version, anyone who forced marriage on a woman wouldn’t keep his word.

  Everly jumped, making his horse skitter sideways.

  “Do you think I don’t know that,” she snapped, shoving her hair back. “But I have to try—”

  “That’s wise—”

  “I can help,” Chance cut Everly off. If he was in the business of rescuing damsels, he couldn’t draw the line at just one, particularly when he suspected this one and had put his in the cross hairs of her problem.

  “Why would you help us?”

  “You remind me of someone I know.” If he were lucky, he’d save both damsels and settle a score, maybe get to be the hero
instead of the bad guy.

  Hope kept her upright in the saddle for the long, silent ride through the night. The ghost lights, the arrangement of the mountains, and the lights from the Marfa settlement kept her on course until she ran on to the railroad tracks. She followed them after that, half dozing in the saddle. She saw the windmills first, helped by the rim of sun topping the mountains at her back. Ani reined in Delphine and considered. The one thing she couldn’t do was ride the horse into town. Pa’d know his own horse, probably better than he knew his daughter. She slipped to the ground, took her canteen and had a drink, tied it back to the saddle. She resisted the urge to loop the reins around the saddle horn, instead let them trail and slapped Delphine on the backside. Felt almost put upon when the horse trotted off without a backward look. Ani angled away from the tracks now, heading for the side of town where Angelica lived.

  We’re not where we were. The lights, they did something to time.

  The feeling of danger she’d sensed in the wash, it rose again, chilling her insides. What if Angelica wasn’t here? Or was that different, too?

  She pulled the cap down so it shadowed her face, slowed her walk as she passed the first of the windmills that pulled water from the ground for the town. There were some signs of stirring, of day’s beginning for some folks. She passed into the shadow cast by the first adobe, moving quiet as she knew how, though trying not to look like she was creeping or anything.

  The adobes were closer together here, made it easier to stay hid. She was glad for those shadows, though she didn’t know why. Pa would tell her that her imagination was getting the better of her. And maybe it was, but this time Marfa didn’t feel as peaceful-like. The few people she glimpsed looked sullen and fearful. She stopped, leaned against a corner like she had nothing better to do and studied the adobe that should be Angelica’s, then the area around it. Saw someone lurking in the shadows across from it. Red eyes gleamed out of those shadows.

  It’s an automaton.

  Whatever an automaton was, it had turned Chance from lover to hunter in the time it took her to blink. Heard a grinding noise—and the thing moved into the light. It wore the clothes of a cowboy jeans, cotton shirt, chaps, hat and guns, all dark and kind of sinister looking. Moved with a jerky precision that should have been silly, but wasn’t. It was like he was a copy of the hired guns they’d run into every now and again—run ins that always ended with Pa giving them some of their earnings and free samples of elixir. Pa called it the cost of doing business where the arm of the law didn’t reach, buying protection. Pa didn’t like buying anything that didn’t earn him a profit but a gun to the head was mighty persuasive.

  He approached the door to Angelica’s hut, banged it once, then again. It swung open and she stood in the opening, her hands on her hips. She looked the same, brown skinned, her dark hair twisted into a knot on the back of her head, her dark eyes flashing defiance, though the thing topped her by a considerable bit.

  It didn’t speak. Did gesture for her to come out. She pulled her shawl more tightly around her, tossed her head, then stalked out, slamming the door behind her. She set off in the direction of the courthouse, the main street of Marfa, her skirts swishing with her anger, that thing clunking behind her. There was a chugging, like a train incoming, but it came from above. A shadow passed overhead, drawing her gaze. Above her, a strange flying machine passed by, no, several of them, like a flying train, only with strange bloated tops and their bows like ships, plumes of smoke streaming back from each of them, not just the lead one. It turned in the direction of the train depot.

  We’re not where we were. The lights, they did something to time.

  After a brief hesitation, Ani followed, not sure why she felt the need, because she wanted to flee, not just Marfa, but to Chance, back to the tinaja, back to where she belonged.

  Something hung over the settlement, hung thick over it, something not happy or good. And with the rising sun, came the sounds of a commotion of some kind, but it wasn’t until she crept close to the square that she saw the gallows. She did not want to see a hanging. Giving in to the urge to flee, she turned, just as more dark shadows fell across her. Only this time, it wasn’t a flying train, but two of the automatons.

  “How did you take down the ’ton?” Chance asked Miss Everly, raising his voice to be heard over the chug of the airship engine. Calling her that helped separate her from his Ani—and she’d insisted on it, much to his amusement. Clearly her life had been different from Ani’s, though her father was still a nightmare, since he was willing to force her into marriage to settle a gambling debt.

  They’d tied him up in the engine room, and then launched the airship, since they needed to reach Marfa before dawn. Thankfully this one traveled at a good speed. They should reach Marfa shortly after Ani, hopefully in time to keep her from being mistaken for Miss Everly. She’d briefed him on the layout of the town and the nature of the opposition. A ’ton outlaw gang was a new twist.

  “Roberto told me about the flaw in the design. Doc doesn’t know about it, or he’d have killed Roberto before now.”

  “Flaw?” Flaws were good. Flaws in automatons even better.

  “The latch on the back of their heads is weak. You just bang it real hard, it opens, then all you need to do is grab a handful of wires and pull. The trick is reaching the head, cause they’re tall and if you don’t get it right the first time, well, the ’ton has time to turn around. I stood on a rock and just banged him as he went by, but that ’ton isn’t too bright. My father bought it before Doc came or he’d not have had it. Now no one gets a ’ton unless Doc says so.”

  This one talked a bit more than his Ani, her accent more refined.

  “Doc Smith.” Chance hesitated, but he’d put the question off, not sure he wanted to know. Now he needed to know. “Is he a big man? Ugly? Compelling eyes and plumy voice?”

  “I thought you said you hadn’t met him?” She started to puff up again.

  “I was hoping it wasn’t the same man.” Or hoping it was? He needed to be careful, keep his thoughts cool, focused. If he let his anger loose, his longing for revenge off the leash—could be bad for Ani. This was a rescue mission. And if he got a chance for some closure, well, he wouldn’t say no.

  She subsided some, though retained an air of suspicion. He mulled telling her more, but she wouldn’t believe him. He didn’t believe this most of the time and he’d lived it.

  “There it is,” she said, her voice tightening with tension.

  The sun was more than a bit above the mountains behind them, the light creeping across the desert toward Marfa. Still too murky to spot Ani. Hopefully she’d made it to the hotel by now. Above the settlement, an airship train chugged toward what was supposed to be a train depot. It was an odd sight, even factoring in all the odd he’d seen. Looked like they’d connected about ten airships, as if the notion of a train persisted but with a twist. It was fortuitous though. He steered them toward the rear, not coming down until they’d cleared the windmills that provided water for Marfa, and followed it in, using it to get the lay of the land below.

  “They’re prepping the gallows.” Her voice broke a bit. She looked at him, hope and despair warring for supremacy in her eyes. “Looks like he’s got all his ’tons on duty, too.”

  Chance eased their airship down a short piece from the depot and shut the engine off. “If you told folks how to take down the ’tons, would they do it?” It would be a good diversion and even the odds a bit. “Anyone you can trust to fight back?”

  “Everyone hates him, even the men who’d usually help him, since he replaced them with ’tons. Don’t have to pay them, you see.” She frowned. “Roberto’s got friends. If they knew they could take on the ’tons and win,” she paused, then nodded with determination, “whole town would be against him.”

  “Then go, talk to them. Stay out of sight as much as possible. Here,” He pulled off his long coat and tossed it at her. “Cover up or you won’t make it four feet.”


  “What are you going to do?” she asked, as she pulled on the coat, tucking her wayward hair under the collar.

  He’d check at the hotel for Ani, but, “Best way to kill a snake is to lop its head off.”

  “You’re going to take on Doc?” She sounded incredulous. “Good luck with that.” Her look said nice knowing you as she went over the side like a pro.

  “Miss Everly?” She looked back, her brows raised. “I’ll need that diversion before they start the hanging.” She paled but nodded and disappeared into the shadows by the depot.

  If Ani was safe at the hotel, he put their future at risk with this move on Smith. It was a tough gig, being the good guy. And it was a bad time to remember that every time he’d taken on Smith, he’d lost.

  A night that started with her first proposal should not have concluded by getting snatched by automatons, though at least she kinda knew what they were now. Kinda. The two metal men lifted her feet off the ground and swept her forward, right into the people milling around the gallows like a bunch of cowed ghouls. While she’d like to believe it was a bad dream, the unforgiving grip of their metal hands felt too real. And she didn’t seem able to wake up, though that didn’t stop her trying.

  The crowd—funny how a gallows attracted the whole boodle even in a little town like Marfa—parted at their approach, all of them avoiding looking directly at her. Some she recognized from previous years, some she didn’t. She’d liked to blame them for ignoring her plight but the automatons were big. They were metal. They had guns. She’d have probably looked away, too. The metal men most likely explained why no one looked happy and a lot of them looked scared. Kind of seemed like they’d been herded to the square for the hanging, now that she considered it. But who was supposed to swing?