“Yes, that would be a brilliant plan.” Trimble spoke up, arms crossed, near the engine. “Leave the train and its cargo unattended and put our whole operation off schedule for who knows how long. I’m sure you’ll have a lovely time explaining to King Aron how the huge loss of revenue and time was worth it just to catch one little girl.”
“Where is your security chief?” the guard said. “I want him with me personally while we search every inch of this train.”
“Oh, he’s under the weather at the moment,” Jeyne said, assuming a fake tone of regret. “But I’ll open up the train to you and the rest of your guards. Search for the girl all you want, but she’s not here. I won’t have you disturbing the cargo or the other passengers, and you’d better be finished by the time we’re ready to pull out.”
She handed the man back the message signed by Doloman, but the guard ignored it. He spun on his heel and stormed out, pausing at the door to sneer at Jeyne. “King Aron will hear about this, and then we’ll see what happens to this run-down metal shrieker.”
With great effort, Jeyne tamped down her anger and kept her face expressionless as she nodded. “Give my regards to the king, then.”
When the guard had gone, Trimble took a vial of black powder off his belt and held it in his hands. “Call the 401 a shrieker? You know, I could rig up a couple of my experiments, show him a few surprises from the old girl. How about it, Jeyne?”
Jeyne sighed. “I appreciate the sentiment, but we’ve got to lie low for now,” she said. “The more time we can give Piper and Gee, the better.”
“It’s no fun sitting around here waiting for something to happen,” Trimble muttered. He turned to check the pressure gauges. “I wish I could be there when Piper tries out my mixture. It’s going to be fantastic.”
“And probably land us all in prison,” Jeyne reminded him. She glanced out the window of the engine cab to make sure the guards weren’t harassing any of the passengers disembarking from the train.
“True, but if you’re going to lose your job and your freedom all at once, you might as well do it with some style,” Trimble said. “Besides, maybe old Aron will take pity on us poor railroad folk.”
“That’s an interesting thought, fireman,” Jeyne said thoughtfully, turning to look at him. “I’ve wondered for a long time now what the king would think of all this business. We’ve heard a lot of noise from Doloman over Anna. Why haven’t we heard anything from the boss yet?”
Trimble’s eyes went wide. “You think Doloman’s kept Anna a secret from him?” he asked. “Why would he do that?”
Jeyne shrugged. “All I know for sure is she’s better off away from both of them.”
“Then let’s hope Piper and Gee make it to her in time,” Trimble said.
Piper raised the revolver. Doloman stood behind his desk as Piper pointed the gun at him with shaking hands. “What did you do to her?” Piper demanded. Anna was so still it was hard to tell if she was even breathing. “Tell me what you did!”
“I believe you’ll find that Anna’s condition is your doing,” Doloman said calmly, “not mine.”
Piper’s face went hot with rage. “You’re a liar, and you’re even crazier than I thought. How could I have ever thought this place was Anna’s home?”
“But it is her home.” Doloman came around to the front of the desk. Piper hurried to the sofa, still pointing the gun at Doloman, putting her body between him and Anna. The machinist scowled at her. “I’m not going to hurt her, ignorant child,” he snapped.
“Why won’t she wake up?” The sound of their raised voices should have woken Anna by now, Piper thought. Doloman must have given her something, some kind of sedative.
“Because you were not here.” Doloman clenched his fists, as if the words were difficult for him to say. He moved to the fireplace, leaning his good arm on the mantel. The other was no longer in a sling, but he obviously favored it, keeping it close against his side. “You see, I know what you are—synergist.”
Piper fought to keep her expression neutral. Inwardly, she was starting to panic. How can he know that? she screamed to herself. To her knowledge, Doloman had never seen her use her powers.
“I’ve suspected for some time.” He nodded to the papers on his desk. “The research I accumulated on Anna—and you, once I returned to the city—confirms these suspicions. I’ve encountered a handful of individuals who had magic in various forms, but your gift is exceptionally rare. Machines feed off the energy inside you and grow stronger. Your magic emanates like a beacon—even the most hopelessly broken machine will return to life at your touch.” He stared at her, and Piper realized with a jolt that there was admiration in his gaze. “Your power has been a great gift to me.”
Hopelessly broken machines … But her magic had healed Anna; she … she should be better. Piper looked down at her friend, and suddenly a horrible understanding filled her, so quickly and completely that she was dizzy with it. She clutched the revolver tighter, sweat slicking her palms. No, it couldn’t be like that. It couldn’t. “Anna, please wake up,” she whispered.
“She can’t,” Doloman said. The gentleness in his voice sickened Piper. “A trader from a scrap town to the east of yours—Scrap Town Eighteen, I believe it was—brought Anna to me a little over a year ago. She was unconscious and appeared near death. At first, I thought the trader was just a common slaver when he tried to sell me the girl. I was prepared to have him arrested, but then he told me of the girl’s true nature and showed me—”
“Her insides,” Piper finished, realizing at that moment what had probably happened. “He cut her on the back of her neck and gave her that scar.” She sank down on the edge of the sofa next to Anna. She thought if she didn’t, her legs might give out. She kept the revolver close in her right hand. With her other hand, she touched Anna’s shoulder, adjusting the blanket. At least Doloman had made her comfortable. “Anna said you used to hurt her because of her scar. You were trying to get at her power source, weren’t you?”
“That and more,” Doloman said. “She is the most advanced machine I have ever seen, with an energy source that mimics and works alongside a human heart. The technological improvements that might come from studying her—more powerful engines, new medical treatments, advanced defense systems—they’re too great to count. But I encountered a problem. Essentially, her heart had been broken. It sounds morbidly poetic, I realize, but it’s true. Something, some trauma, had injured her so grievously that she no longer functioned. I dared not operate on her power source directly until I understood more about her and the extent of the damage.”
“So for a year, you poked and prodded at her, sticking her with needles, experimenting on her, and all the while she felt everything!” Piper said.
“I didn’t know that.” Doloman spun from the mantel to glare at Piper. “How could I know she was aware of what was happening to her? I was trying to save her life!”
“And study her—but you couldn’t figure out how to revive her, could you?” Piper said, not bothering to hide the scorn in her voice. “That’s why you brought her back to the scrap towns, isn’t it? You were looking for the trader who sold her to you. You wanted to find out what he knew about Anna—where she came from.”
“Very good,” Doloman said. “The trader was cagey when I first asked him where he had acquired Anna. I suspect he pulled her from the scrap fields with the other bits of broken machines.”
“Wait a minute. You think she came in a meteor shower?” Piper scoffed. “I’ve seen those meteors hit. She would have been torn to pieces.”
“You don’t know everything about the meteor storms,” Doloman said, waving an impatient hand. “Based on my research into the phenomenon, when objects come through to our world, they are initially protected by a dense shielding substance, which starts to dissolve as the object enters our atmosphere, forming—”
“The dust,” Piper said, making the connection. “The shielding is poisonous, and it changes into the dus
t as it dissolves.”
“Yes, but occasionally, the shielding remains intact until impact, protecting the object and bringing it into our world safe and whole,” Doloman said. “I believe this is what happened to Anna, how the trader found her. But I needed to know for certain, to make sure the trader didn’t know any more than he claimed, so I bought passage for us on the caravan, pushed the drivers through the days and nights and countless scrap towns. I had to find that trader. I was so close.” He looked at Anna with a wistful expression. Then his features hardened. “He was always one step ahead of us, leaving the scrap towns before we arrived, almost as if he knew I was coming. I thought I could head him off by cutting through the scrap fields, but the storm came up too quickly, too violently.” He glanced up at Piper, a speculative light in his eyes. “Perhaps it was the goddess’s will. She led Anna to you, and you revived her with your powers. But in the end, she is too broken. She can’t live unless she has you near her.” Doloman paused to look at Piper closely. “You understand. I can see it in your eyes.”
Piper’s hand involuntarily went to the watch around her neck, clutching it protectively. The watch refused to work for anyone else because it was too broken. It functioned only when it was near Piper, exposed to her magic. Anna was the same. Piper thought she’d healed her, but it was only temporary. Hadn’t Raenoll told her that Anna was too fragile, that she would die if Piper abandoned her?
It owes you its existence. The seer’s words echoed in her head. But she’d been talking about the pocket watch—an object! Not a person. Goddess, how could this be?
“So, if you knew all that … you wanted me here,” Piper said. She’d been right, she realized. She hadn’t tricked anyone to get inside that house. Doloman had let her walk right in.
“Don’t you see what an opportunity lies in front of you?” Doloman asked. He took a step toward the sofa. Piper raised the revolver automatically, but Doloman acted as if it weren’t there. “The two of you will become my adopted daughters. And in exchange for your cooperation with my research, I can reward you beyond your wildest dreams.”
“My cooperation?” Piper echoed. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “You mean you want me to be some kind of power source you keep around for Anna.”
“You’re just a child,” Doloman said. “You couldn’t possibly understand what’s at stake, what a discovery like Anna means for the Dragonfly territories.”
“But she’s a person, not a steamboat or an airship,” Piper said. “I thought that’s what the king’s interested in.”
“True enough,” Doloman said grimly. “Aron would depart for the uncharted lands in his machines, leaving his people to wallow in the factory smoke. However, there are other leaders, stronger men and women, who could unite Dragonfly with the Merrow Kingdom. All they need is an army and sufficient resources.”
Piper stared at Doloman, stunned, as his words sank in. “An army? You mean …” Of course. She was stupid not to have realized it sooner. “You don’t work for Aron, you’re working for the Merrow Kingdom.” Piper looked from Anna’s face to the revolver, the length of its iron barrel. “You want to build your own set of weapons and war machines with what you learn by studying Anna and her power source, an arsenal for Merrow to use to take over. You just need to get hold of the iron trade down here to help you do it.”
“That plan is already in motion,” Doloman said, “but only for our short-term goals. If I can discover the secret of organic machines, there’ll no longer be a need to strip-mine vast quantities of iron for weapons or ship hulls. You must see how many lives this will save. Solace will be united under one power instead of two squabbling nations trying to hoard resources from each other. Scrappers like you, starving in the wilderness, will have a place again, and not just in Aron’s factories. We’ll reseed the land and abandon these fruitless plans for exploration. All balances will be restored.” Doloman spoke almost to himself now, but he continued to stare at Anna in a kind of dazed rapture. “Anna is the key to everything.”
Of course she is, Piper thought. It was clear now. Raenoll’s prediction, the reward Piper hoped she would get for returning Anna to Noveen. Doloman would take Piper and Anna into his care, make them the richest two girls in Solace, and provide for their every need while he studied Anna. On top of everything, he’d have a synergist around to make sure his war machines were in the best shape possible for Merrow to take over the world.
Piper stood speechless as Doloman regarded her expectantly. He thinks I’m going to take his offer, Piper realized. And why wouldn’t he? Doloman had just offered her everything she’d ever wanted and more. She would never be poor again, never have to worry about where her next meal was coming from or how hard the winter was going to be. And he planned to unite the two kingdoms, meaning the Dragonfly territories and the Merrow Kingdom would never again be in conflict over land or resources. If that happened, maybe they would start to look after the people again and save them from starving in the scrap towns.
Maybe no more fathers would have to die in factories breathing deadly smoke.
Piper’s chest tightened as she thought of her dad. What would he say to Doloman’s plan? She wished more than anything that he were with her right now. That he could tell her the right thing to do. But he was gone, and Piper had to decide not just for herself but for Anna and everyone else too.
Piper looked down at her friend, Doloman’s promises echoing in her head. Would Anna truly be safe and happy in the new life he was offering them? She’d never go hungry, Piper told herself, and she’d have a home, just as Piper had wanted for her. They’d also never be separated. But was that enough? What would happen after the Merrow Kingdom finally took over? Would they be as kind and generous to the people of the Dragonfly territories as Doloman claimed, reseeding the land and dividing resources fairly? Or would they take the iron and use it to make more guns and war machines, ignoring the people starving in the scrap towns, as they had been doing already?
Neither one of them deserves to have all the power, Piper realized. Both Aron and the Merrow Kingdom had wronged their people, and no matter how rosy a picture Doloman painted of Merrow’s intention, Piper didn’t trust them. And she knew beyond anything that she could never trust Doloman—not after everything he’d done.
Piper looked at Doloman and slowly shook her head. “No,” she said.
A muscle in Doloman’s jaw tightened. “Excuse me?”
“It’s a good offer for a scrapper, but the thing is—I don’t believe the world will be like you say it will. Besides that, I don’t like your price.” Doloman opened his mouth to speak, but Piper rushed on before he could interrupt her. “You didn’t mention that part—this new world you want to create costs us our freedom. You’d put us in a cage. It’ll be a soft, pretty cage, I’m sure, but there’ll still be needles for Anna, and pain.” Anger burned in her chest, and she tightened her grip on the revolver. “Won’t there?”
Doloman raised his hands in an appeasing gesture. “Only until I learn more. The experiments, the pain, are temporary.”
Piper ignored him. “And what if in the end you find out that the only way to do the research you need is to take her apart piece by piece? Would you sacrifice Anna for your new world?” She stared him down, waiting while he opened his mouth and closed it again. For a long time, he didn’t answer.
Finally, his expression hardened. “If it became necessary, yes,” he said.
“That’s what I thought,” Piper said. She leaned down and touched Anna’s cheek. The girl sighed in her sleep. Her eyelids fluttered, and suddenly she was staring up at Piper dazedly. In the silence, Piper heard Doloman’s excited gasp.
“Oh,” Anna said, rubbing her eyes. “Hello, Piper. I heard your voice, but I thought I must have been dreaming this time. You got here so fast.”
“As fast as I could,” Piper said, smiling at her. “You know you’re in trouble, don’t you? So much trouble, I can’t even begin to describe the tonnage of i
t.”
Anna smiled back. “I’m happy to see you.”
“If you’re up to it, you’d better try to stand,” Piper said, looking up at Doloman. “We’re leaving soon.”
“You fool!” Doloman roared. “Why make this harder on yourselves? Any life you want, I can give it to you. You’ll be safe, secure, fed, and happy. What more could someone like you ask for?”
“Someone like me,” Piper echoed, fury making her tremble. “My father wanted to give me all those things you named. That’s why he went to work in the factory and let the black smoke eat away at his lungs. You say your world would be better than Aron’s, but I don’t think either the Merrow Kingdom or the Dragonfly territories care enough about their people to rule the world, and the price for what you’re offering us is too high. In the end, it’ll kill us.”
“What about you, Anna?” Doloman asked. He watched as Piper helped Anna to sit up on the sofa. Every movement she made, his eyes tracked her with the same wonder and intensity Piper had seen that first night in her house. “I took care of you when you were hurt. I put the mark of the Dragonfly on you for your protection. I only wanted the best for you. You are like a daughter to me.”
Anna flinched at the word “daughter” and leaned in closer to Piper. “I know what you were trying to do, and I guess I should thank you for protecting me,” Anna said. “But you’ve never felt like my family. Piper feels like home to me. I want to go where she goes.”
Anna had no idea how important that was, Piper thought. If being away from Piper for the two days it had taken the 401 to reach the capital had caused her to fall unconscious, they really did have to stick together from here on out.
Piper helped Anna stand. She was unsteady on her feet, which would slow them down, but they were running out of time. Piper knew Doloman’s patience was almost gone. She nudged Anna behind her, and as she did so, she slipped a small tubular object into Anna’s trouser pocket. Anna squeezed her arm to let Piper know she felt it.
The Mark of the Dragonfly Page 26