Clockwork Secrets

by Dru Pagliassotti

  “I don’t understand why you aren’t more worried,” she snapped as they climbed around a steep pile of fallen rocks. “Our lives are in danger.”

  “Oh, this isn’t so bad,” Cristof protested, a little out of breath. “I still have a gun, my wife, and my best friend. Not to mention six other lictors and an Alzanan principessa. Other than a platter of starfish hors d’oeuvres, what more could I ask?”

  “You are insane,” Liliana declared.

  “It runs in the family,” he agreed.

  * * *

  “The Alzanans are maintaining a minimal patrol along the top of the cliff and have nobody guarding the beach,” Amcathra reported later. “They appear to be watching for vessels approaching from the ocean. The lighthouse is approximately an hour’s walk away and is surrounded by new construction. I could only see roofs over the edge of the cliff, but the new buildings are very large and very high. They have been painted a mottled gray and white.”

  “Hangars?” Cristof guessed.

  “That is my assumption. They are well-positioned to protect the coast and the capital but far enough from the city to avoid being seen by most travelers. The lighthouse would provide a useful landing beacon. I can only assume that the paint choice is intended to hide the buildings from icarii scouts.”

  “I didn’t know we had hangars here,” Liliana said in a small voice. “I would have told you if I’d known.”

  “You had no reason to know,” Taya assured her. A sixteen-year-old, even in a royal family, was unlikely to be privy to her country’s military secrets. Still…. “Do you know how many dirigibles there are?”

  “No,” the girl said, downcast. “I didn’t even know we had dirigibles until I heard about the invasion.”

  “Do you think your grandfather ordered the attack?” Cristof asked, his attention drawn to the young woman. She averted her eyes from his intense gaze.

  “He said he didn’t.”

  “It doesn’t matter anymore.” Taya put a hand on Liliana’s shoulder and shook her head at the two men. “The question is, can our rescue ship get past the outpost to reach us? I assume it’s disguised as a Mareaux trader or something else that can pass unchallenged through Alzanan waters.”

  Amcathra gave her an odd look.

  “Icarus. It is not a naval ship.”

  Taya dropped her hand. Next to her, Cristof groaned.

  “But — if — how can it be here?” she demanded.

  “The Firebrand has been patrolling the coast since we arrived.”

  “The decaturs let it leave Ondinium?” She couldn’t believe it.

  Next to her, Cristof pulled off his glasses and pinched the arch of his nose. “I see the Council is playing its usual game of secrets and lies. I really wish you wouldn’t participate, Janos. I’d like to think I can trust you.”

  Amcathra stiffened.

  “I have little voice in the Council’s decisions, Exalted. And in this case, its secret is to our advantage.”

  Taya’s mind was in whirl. If an ornithopter had been patrolling the coast for several days, then it had undoubtedly spotted the hangars by the lighthouse. In fact, it had probably made a very good map of all of the coastal defenses near Alzana’s capital.

  Which suggested that the Firebrand wasn’t really there as a diplomatic safety net. It was a war vessel preparing for battle. Her jaw tightened. She was going to have words with Decatur Evadare Constante when they returned to the capital.

  “To return to Taya’s question,” Cristof said, his expression as grim as hers, “is the outpost on alert?”

  “I saw telegraphy poles along the cliff’s edge,” Amcathra said. “We must assume the entire nation is on alert.”

  “If I went up there to talk to them….” Liliana hesitated. “Do you think they’d believe me?”

  “They think we kidnapped you.” Taya looked at the girl’s torn and salt-stiffened clothes, disheveled hair, and dirt-covered hands and feet. “And treated you pretty badly in the process, too.”

  “But if I explained that it was all a mistake….”

  “Do the officers in charge of this outpost belong to one of the rebel Families?” Amcathra asked.

  “I don’t know.”

  “Then you would be putting yourself at significant risk by going there.”

  “What are we going to do?” Cristof asked. “Wait here or cross the fence?”

  “I do not recommend crossing the fence. The Alzanans have mined the beach and tide pools with steel jaw traps. I have been attempting to think of a means by which we could signal the ship after dark. I am open to suggestions.”

  “Can’t you fire your guns?” Liliana asked.

  “Air rifles give off no light and little sound.”

  “Oh.”

  “We could use something reflective,” Cristof murmured, “but that’s only useful if there’s a source of light to reflect. The lighthouse beacon won’t shine in this direction, and we don’t have any incendiary matches. Do we have flint and steel?”

  “I have a steel boot knife,” Amcathra replied, “but I am not carrying any flint.”

  “What about all these rocks around us?” Taya asked. “Are they flint?”

  “Would you recognize flint if you saw it?” Cristof countered.

  “I know what it looks like,” one of the lictors — Dayvet — volunteered. “I’ll look.”

  “Please continue considering alternative solutions,” Amcathra said, nodding to the lictor.

  “Like what?” Cristof grumbled as Dayvet left. “Wave my hands and cast a magic spell?”

  “If we knew the ship was close, we could jump up and down and shout,” Taya suggested. “It wouldn’t be subtle, but….”

  “That would only work in daylight or if the engines were not running.”

  She sighed.

  Dayvet returned a half-hour later, empty-handed. None of the other lictors had come up with a clever solution to the problem, either. With no better alternatives, the small group settled down in the dubious shelter of boulders and shrubs.

  “So, Lieutenant.” Taya squatted next to Amcathra. “I notice that you seem to rely a lot on Jager.”

  The lictor gave her a suspicious look.

  “She is the most highly ranked of my lictors.”

  “She seems very competent. Good-looking, too. Have you—”

  “You are exhausted, Icarus, and quite possibly hallucinating. I suggest you get some rest.”

  “But—”

  “Please do not waste your time or mine pursuing this line of speculation any further.”

  Taya sighed and walked back to her husband. The damp air was getting cold. She sat and leaned against his shoulder.

  “How are you?” she asked, softly.

  “Absolutely miserable. You?”

  “About the same.” She squeezed his scarred left hand, running her fingers over his gold wedding band. “I saw you limping.”

  “Blisters and cuts. If I’d known I’d be fleeing for my life, I would have worn a pair of sturdy boots. You’d think we would have learned by now. How are your shoes holding up?”

  “They’re not. Am I sunburnt?”

  “It’s that fair skin of yours.”

  “I hate it.”

  “I don’t.” He smiled. “But next time we go to the beach, we’ll bring hats.”

  “And poke starfish.”

  “Sounds like fun.”

  They laced their fingers together and lapsed into silence.

  * * *

  The sky grew dark and a cold fog rolled in over the water. Taya groaned as she stretched her stiff legs.

  “Well, the fog will hide the Firebrand as long as it stays over the ocean,” she said, shivering. “But they’ll need lights to avoid the cliff; the Alzanans will spot them.”

 
; “I’ll wake up Janos.” Cristof stood. Taya heard Liliana sleepily ask a question as he passed, and Cristof replied. Around them the lictors shifted, the two on watch leaning over to awaken those who still slumbered.

  Ten minutes later, the shivering group picked its way back to the water’s edge and sat back-to-back, searching the horizon. Taya’s stomach growled, although the constant noise of the surf kept anyone else from hearing it. She had no idea how much time had passed before she realized she was seeing something blink in the distance. She shook herself and focused.

  “Do you see that?” she whispered.

  “It’s on the beach,” one of the lictors murmured. “Can’t be the ship.”

  “Smugglers?” Cristof suggested.

  “It is a request to approach the signaler,” Amcathra said at last.

  “It’s a Firebrand?” Taya asked, relieved.

  “Yes.” He stood. “Follow me.”

  When they drew close to the light, Amcathra halted. Taya bumped into him and he turned, steadying her with one hand. Liliana blundered into her back, and then Cristof into hers.

  “Wait here.” Amcathra walked the rest of the way alone. A few minutes later the light lowered and he stepped in front of it, gesturing. They all hurried to join the signaler, who bowed to Cristof and then snapped the lantern’s hood down.

  “Where’s the ship?” Cristof whispered in the sudden darkness.

  “Offshore, Exalted,” the signaler replied, equally quietly. “We have to be careful. The Alzanans launched a dirigible at sunset. Gave us a turn, but we were far enough away that it didn’t spot us.”

  “We didn’t see anything,” Taya protested.

  “It must have been on the other side of the point,” Cristof said. “Where was it headed?”

  “Out to sea, Exalted. We waited for it to disappear into the fog before we finished our glide in. Lieutenant Imbrex said if we couldn’t get to the rendezvous point, neither could you, so she gambled you might spot a light farther down the coast. I climbed out about a mile downshore and hiked here. Ship’ll come in on my signal.”

  “Does the Alzanan outpost have anti-airvessel weapons?” Cristof asked.

  “Cannon.”

  “And our ship? Is it armed?”

  “Yes, Exalted. Lieutenant Imbrex was briefing the gunnery crews when I left.”

  “Janos….” Cristof’s brow furrowed.

  “The Firebrand’s weapons are intended for ship-to-ship combat, Exalted.”

  “Then you won’t fire at the outpost.”

  “The Council has given permission for ornithopter crews to defend their ship from attack, Exalted. Any attack.”

  “Even from the ground?” Cristof was outraged. “Does the rest of the caste know that the Council has permitted this— this blatant violation of the nation’s most important ethical standards?”

  Liliana touched Taya’s sleeve.

  “What are they saying?” she whispered in Alzanan. “They’re speaking too fast for me.”

  “The ship will pick us up soon,” Taya whispered back, trying not to reveal her distress at Amcathra’s news, “but there may be a firefight.”

  “You aren’t— you aren’t going to attack us, are you?”

  “We won’t attack any land-based targets, I promise.” She turned to the others, interrupting the fiercely whispered argument between Cristof and Amcathra. “Lieutenant, try to avoid killing anyone.”

  “It is too late for that, Icarus. We killed a number of people in our escape from the ambush.”

  “Well, we don’t have to kill anyone now!”

  “I have taken an oath to do whatever is necessary to keep the exalted safe.”

  Cristof gave an irritable hiss. Taya laid a restraining hand on her husband’s arm.

  “All right,” she said to the lictor, “but let’s try to keep the moral high ground in this conflict.”

  “When Mister Pitio signals the Firebrand,” Amcathra continued after an awkward moment, “Lieutenant Imbrex will fire the engines and head toward us. When she arrives, she will drop ladders. We must climb aboard as quickly as possible.”

  When everyone nodded, the signaler unhooded his lantern and slid its aperture open then shut in a repeating pattern.

  A small light appeared within the fog over the ocean. As it drew nearer and larger, Taya heard the rumble of engines and creaking of metal wings. Bright carbon-arc searchlights snapped on and swept the beach, making everyone squint. Their lictors stared in amazement, their rifles sagging forgotten in their hands.

  Liliana said something that Taya couldn’t hear as the ondium ship’s raked-back, predatory prow became visible through the fog. The Firebrand made a slow, wide turn, bringing it parallel to the cliffs as its wings angled to stop its forward motion. Crew members ran along the deck as the ornithopter passed the waiting group by several yards before coming to a stop, its giant wings nearly scraping the cliff face.

  Liliana shook Taya’s arm.

  “What is that?” she demanded over the pounding engine. “How does it float like that? Where is its balloon?”

  “It doesn’t have one. It’s built out of ondium.”

  “But— that’s impossible. Ondinium doesn’t have any flying ships!”

  “It did when it was an empire. The Firebrand is a thousand years old.” The Firebrand’s beautiful, etched ondium hull was a thousand years old, anyway. Its steam engine and operating machinery were state-of-the-art, as were its cannon. The Virtuous Reclamation had forbidden Ondinium to build any new flying vessels, but it hadn’t specifically forbidden the nation from maintaining and upgrading the vessels it already had. For centuries the Oporphyr Council had been secretly exploiting that little legal loophole.

  Rope ladders tumbled over the ship’s rails. Amcathra firmly escorted Cristof to the first, and Taya put Liliana’s hands on the next. The girl climbed several rungs and then shrieked as the ladder spun. Taya waved to the aviators leaning over the rails and they hauled the terrified principessa up to the deck.

  Taya ascended after her husband. Hands grabbed her arms and helped her over the rail, where she found Cristof and Liliana being ushered out of the way as crew members drew up the rest of the group. Amcathra’s lictors were as overwhelmed as Liliana by the ancient ornithopter, gaping around them with open amazement. Then the ladders were hauled in and the crew was urging Firebrand’s wings back into motion again.

  The ship’s officers saluted Amcathra as he strode toward the primary helm, assuming command. So, Taya thought, meeting Cristof’s eyes. It was no coincidence that they were being picked up by the same ornithopter Amcathra had led against the Alzanan invasion.

  “Belowdeck, if you please, Exalted,” one of the crew said briskly. “We’re clearing for battle.”

  “With pleasure,” Cristof muttered, looking around uneasily.

  Taya followed her husband and the shivering principessa to the mess hall located below the raked-back forecastle. They instinctively moved to the large glass casements set in the ship’s bow. The Alzanan cliff was receding along their starboard side. The point around the lighthouse was covered with buildings, just as Amcathra had described, and lit up as bright as day as Alzanan soldiers scrambled to their posts.

  “There,” Cristof said, pointing over her shoulder. Taya nodded as she spotted two hangars, both smaller than the one they’d investigated in Demicus. Then the lighthouse slipped past and the Firebrand gained speed, its spotlights moving back and forth to reveal thick fog and black water.

  A thunderous clap made them all start. Cannon, Taya thought, panicked. Several Firebrand aviators hurried into the galley, then stopped, confused.

  “E-Exalted,” one lictor stammered with a respectful bow, “if you please, we need to secure the windows.”

  “Go ahead.” Cristof took an uncertain step backward and the crew members
surged forward with their tools. Within moments, the glass windows had been pulled out of their frames and slid into narrow wooden crates while metal plates were screwed over the resulting gaps. “Thank you. I like it better that way.”

  “This is unbelievable,” Liliana said, looking around with a combination of indignation and amazement. “How have you kept this ship hidden for so many years?”

  “I guess the Council has decided to make them public now,” Taya said, looking at her husband. “The decaturs must have known that the Firebrand would be spotted eventually.”

  “I wish I knew what they were thinking,” he muttered. “Imperial ornithopters are going to raise a lot of old fears in our former colonies.”

  “Ondinium doesn’t want another empire,” Taya said, uncertainly.

  “You and I don’t want one. Let’s hope the Council feels the same way.”

  Taya shivered, abruptly aware of the winter chill and her damp, ragged clothes. For a moment she imagined what Jayce would say about the state of her garments. She sagged against the hull.

  “What’s wrong?” Cristof cupped her face with his hands.

  “It’s just— Jayce—”

  He pulled her close and said nothing. There was nothing to be said. They were escaping Alzana and leaving their friends behind to their deaths.

  The Firebrands left with the packed windows, making quick, embarrassed bows to the exalted as they hurried out.

  “Is there anything I can do?” Liliana whispered.

  “Maybe, if your sister, the major, is still alive and we can get a message to her,” Cristof replied. “Taya’s worried about our staff. If we could—”

  The ship unexpectedly banked. Taya and Cristof grabbed each other for support. Shouts rose over the engine noise and they felt a low rumbling through their feet.

  “We must have seen the Alzanan ship.” Cristof looked toward the window but was thwarted by the thick metal panels sitting in its place. Taya fought down her concern for her friends. They weren’t out of danger yet themselves.

  “I’m going up.”

  “What? Why?” Cristof grabbed her arm. “It’s too dangerous.”

  “Stay here and keep Liliana safe. You two are the important ones.”