The Impossible Cube

by Steven Harper

  And then it stopped. Alice raised her head and slowly got to her feet. Smoke choked the air and it took some time to make out the warped figures of the automatons scattered about the floor, arms and legs skewed at odd angles, bodies and heads half melted. The marble floor was pitted and scorched, and the glass plate in front of the door had shattered into a thousand pieces. The children coughed and continued to cry. The sound wrenched Alice’s heart, but she forced herself to concentrate on the matter at hand.

  “Madam,” said Kemp’s voice from among the wreckage. “Madam. Madam. Madam.”

  Alice gasped upon hearing this, heartened at this small bit of mechanical life among the strange carnage. Beside her, Gavin got to his feet. Feng remained upright. No one had told him to duck.

  “Madam. Madam. Madam.”

  Phipps came down the stairs, followed by Glenda and Simon. The brass barrel of the energy rifle glowed a soft red. “That was satisfying,” she said. “I imagine the Cossacks themselves will come upstairs eventually, but we should have time. And my shackles are rather more effective than the ones those disgusting clockworkers used.”

  Glenda put a hand to her ear, which had a metal cup over it. “I have access to the memory engines that run the house, Lieutenant. The Gontas have abandoned the automaton controls and are coming now.”

  The smoke caught in Alice’s throat, and she had to cough before she could speak. “Susan—Lieutenant—I can’t go back with you.”

  “I’m not offering a choice.”

  In that moment, all the frustration and anger and fear she’d been keeping under control got away from her. “Why are you doing this?” she burst out. “What do you have to gain? The plague in England is dead. There are no more clockworkers. The Third Ward’s purpose is no more!”

  Phipps strode forward and grabbed Alice by the front of her blouse in a metal fist. Her breath smelled of stale bread and long-forgotten wine. Alice grabbed Phipps’s wrist with her own metal gauntlet, but Phipps was stronger by far. “You endanger the world. You diminish me. You destroyed my reason to exist.”

  “Let her go, Phipps!” Gavin barked, but Simon pointed his rifle at him, and he went still. The paradox generator sat uselessly at his feet like a half-dead flower.

  “So now you’ve replaced your purpose with an obsession to destroy me?” Alice countered. “Is it worth the cost? You’ve dragged Simon and Glenda into hell, and these children are paying the price as well. Let us go to China, Susan, and we’ll restore balance to the world. It won’t be the balance you remember, but it’ll be balance nonetheless.”

  “Madam. Madam. Madam.”

  Phipps’s six-fingered hand tightened on the white cloth at Alice’s throat, and Alice found it a bit hard to breathe. “Balance is restored only through justice. I will have justice.”

  “The Gontas will be here in two minutes, Lieutenant,” said Glenda from behind her rifle.

  “Susan,” Gavin said evenly, “we shouldn’t be talking about this here. These children need our help, our assistance, our aid. Isn’t that also your duty, your responsibility, your obligation?”

  “A fine try, Ennock,” Phipps said. “But I’m not a clockworker.”

  “Listen to me, Lieutenant.” The words came out half-choked, and Alice could barely draw breath through the iron grip at her throat. She fumbled for the whistle on its chain, but couldn’t get to it. “You have a chance here to build instead of destroy. You can save these children and thousands like them. Just let us go.”

  Phipps stared at Alice, her ice-blue eyes meeting Alice’s brown ones. She wavered. The grip at Alice’s throat relaxed and she could breathe freely again. Relief made Alice relax. Everything was going to be fine. The children continued to huddle around Gavin, and she wanted to tell them it would be all right now, but she had no way to—

  “No!” Phipps snarled. Her grip tightened again. “No! No! No! I will have justice! Glenda, chain them both. Simon, keep them covered. If they move wrong, shoot to kill. Alice first. That’ll keep Gavin in line.”

  “Madam. Madam. Madam.”

  “We have barely sixty seconds,” Glenda reported, setting her rifle aside and producing a set of heavy handcuffs.

  “Feng!” Alice cried in desperation. “Attack Phipps!”

  Feng instantly launched himself at Phipps. The move caught Phipps off guard and he slammed into her, knocking her down. Alice went down, too, but Phipps released her grip and she was able to roll free. Gavin’s wristbands snapped a cog at Glenda, who ducked by reflex. Gavin shoved through the crying group of children and swept the rifle from Glenda’s hands with a hook kick. It hit the floor and slid away. Simon spun and aimed his weapon straight at Gavin. The tip glowed red.

  Feng and Phipps rolled across the floor, trading and blocking blows faster than Alice could track. “No!” Phipps chanted. “No! No! No! No!” Feng was getting tired, and Phipps landed several choice hits on him. Alice struggled to her feet, fumbling for the whistle.

  Gavin faced Simon across the glowing rifle barrel. Simon’s eyes were sunken, his hair disheveled, his black coat torn. “Are you going to shoot me, Simon?” Gavin said. “Simon Peter d’Arco, the man who killed his friend and partner?”

  “I have my orders,” he said hoarsely.

  “What orders come from your soul?” Gavin asked. “You once gave up happiness to give me Alice. I can’t imagine that someone so unselfish would kill for shallow reasons.”

  “You never wanted me,” Simon said. “So I found someone else, and Phipps ripped me away from him to follow you. It always comes back to you, Gavin. You!”

  “I’m sorry,” Gavin admitted. “I know you’re angry. But is anger worth my life, or the lives of these children?”

  “Madam. Madam. Madam.”

  Glenda was moving toward her lost rifle. Simon twisted a lever, and the red barrel glowed scarlet. Alice froze, the whistle at her mouth, as Simon fired. The energy beam shot past Gavin and hit Glenda’s rifle. It leaped away, a molten mass. Glenda swore and jumped back.

  “You traitorous bastard!” Phipps leaped to her feet, dark hair wild. Feng staggered upright, still trying to attack but not possessing the coordination. “I’ll see you court-martialed, d’Arco!”

  The door at the top of the balcony burst open, and clockworker Cossacks boiled into the room. Ivana was at the forefront. She waved a sword that would have looked ridiculous with her pink tea gown if the vibrating blade hadn’t sheared a marble bust in half as she passed. The other Gontas bore similar weapons, including a number of projectile arms.

  “Shit,” said Simon and Gavin together.

  Alice blew the whistle. It shrilled high and loud, like a baby chick crying for its mother. There was a small moment of silence when everyone in the giant room paused, as if startled that Alice would do something so ridiculous. Alice stood in the middle of the frozen chaos. The children huddled together, frightened and without a protector. Feng staggered about, still trying to obey orders and attack Phipps, but betrayed by his battered body. Kemp’s head droned sorrowfully to itself. Gavin and Simon remained side by side, dark and light, newly become brothers. Even the Gontas and Zalizniaks paused momentarily in their charge.

  And then an angry trumpeting answered the whistle. A faint rumble grew stronger, and the front doors smashed open. They wrenched off their hinges, and Alice ducked as one door flew over her head and crashed at the foot the stairs just as Ivana and two of her siblings arrived there. Ivana’s dying scream was buried under six inches of solid oak. The mechanical elephant stampeded over the remains of the automaton army, trumpeted again, and came to a halt near Alice. It made a formidable wall of brass between her and Phipps.

  “Get aboard!” Alice barked. “Feng, get the children on the elephant!”

  But Gavin and Simon were now halfway across the room from Alice and the mechanical animal. Gavin snatched up the paradox generator and the two of them ran for the elephant, but one of the Gontas on the staircase lobbed a small device that landed in the
space between Gavin and the elephant. It exploded with a strange pop that only rocked Alice but knocked both Gavin and Simon sprawling. Gavin slid backward across the smooth floor, away from the elephant and toward the staircase. Alice shouted his name.

  Gavin managed to regain his feet. By a miracle, he hadn’t lost his hold on the paradox generator. Simon, meanwhile, flew in a different direction entirely and fetched up against one of the walls. He pulled himself upright, rifle in hand. The Cossacks laughed and tried to clamber over the wreckage at the foot of the stairs. One of them gave it up and turned to aim a large, multibarreled rifle in the elephant’s general direction.

  “Go, Alice!” Gavin shouted. “Take the kids and go!”

  “No!” Alice cried, horrified at the idea. “I can’t leave you!” But the space between them was wide, and the Gontas were already aiming a number of other weapons. The air would turn deadly in seconds. The children were climbing up the elephant and into the brass gondola, using handholds welded onto its hide for just this purpose. Feng urged them along, but they were slow, and there was no way to get them all in before the Gontas started their barrage.

  Gavin held up the paradox generator and grabbed the crank. Of course! The Cossacks couldn’t resist it. All he had to do was freeze them in place long enough for—

  Alice’s eye fell upon Gavin’s ear protectors lying on the floor some distance away. The bomb had flung them from their place around his neck. Her stomach clenched with terror. In that moment, she knew what he intended to do.

  “Gavin, don’t!” she screamed. “You can’t!”

  I love you always, he mouthed and gave her that heart-stopping grin. Then he turned the crank. The unearthly sound of the tritone paradox sighed through the room. Most of the Gontas and Zalizniaks, those who hadn’t been crushed by the door, froze. A look of pure bliss descended on their faces. Their weapons thudded to the stairs. Gavin mirrored their expression. His handsome features passed into an ecstasy only he could understand as he mindlessly cranked the handle, transporting himself and his fellow clockworkers into rapture. Alice hated the filthy sound, and tears streamed down her face. She couldn’t reach him, he couldn’t reach her, and he would play until he dropped from exhaustion or a Cossack killed him.

  And just as Alice feared, three Gontas had had the foresight to throw together ear protectors of their own, and they shoved past their entranced brethren. Two aimed rifles straight at Gavin.

  “No, you don’t!” Simon fired his own weapon. Red energy spat from the tip and shattered part of the stone banister. The Gontas ducked. Alice cried out.

  “Gavin’s bought us time!” Simon shouted at her, still firing. “Don’t waste it! Glenda, stay where you are. Alice, get those children aboard!”

  At that moment, Phipps dashed around the elephant. She had taken advantage of the confusion to retrieve her rifle, and she aimed it at Alice, but Alice made an infuriated gesture, and the elephant swung its trunk round and slapped Phipps aside like a fly. Phipps went tail-over-teakettle and landed hard. The rifle arced away, far out of reach.

  “Leave, Susan!” Alice shouted above the noise of the rifle fire and the paradox generator. “I don’t have time for your pettiness. If you want justice later, run now.”

  Simon continued to fire. His expert marksmanship kept the three Cossack clockworkers pinned down, but Alice wondered how long the rifle’s energy would last. The moment Simon stopped his attack, the Cossacks would turn their fire on Gavin, and Alice had no way to save him. Gavin played his perfect tritones, forever beyond her reach. In moments, he would be dead. Alice felt sick and helpless as the final two children climbed aboard the elephant.

  “Come on, Lieutenant!” Glenda cried near the gaping front doors.

  Phipps looked torn for a moment. Then she dashed outside. Glenda went after her.

  Simon fired another volley at the Gontas, but the rifle’s power was already weaker. “Go!” he shouted. “We’re out of time!”

  Alice gestured, and the elephant curled its trunk so Alice could step aboard it. “I won’t leave without Gavin!”

  “Madam. Madam. Madam.”

  “There’s no choice!” Simon said. “You have to let him go.”

  Ice washed through Alice’s veins at those words. “I… I…”

  “Let him go!”

  At that moment, Simon’s rifle ran out of power. The room fell silent except for the ghostly sighs of the tritone paradox. The protected Cossacks, who were hiding behind the stone banister, raised their heads above the rail. Their own rifles came up. Something inside Alice snapped. The world went into a blur, and she was only half aware of what she was doing. A scream tore itself from her throat, and the elephant thundered forward with Feng and the children clinging to the gondola on its back. And then the mechanical beast was standing between Gavin and the Gontas. Rifle fire, some of it energy, some of it projectile, pinged and hissed off the elephant’s brass hide. Alice leaped down, yanked the generator out of Gavin’s hands, and slapped him sharply across the face. Weapons fire continued to pock and snarl on the other side of the elephant.

  “Wha—?” Gavin said.

  “Move!” she shouted.

  He moved. In seconds, he was in the gondola. Alice hurled herself back onto the elephant’s trunk and ordered the beast to turn and run. It obeyed with a lurch as the Cossacks continued to fire, though the elephant still provided protection as it picked up speed. The smell of scorched brass filled the room and a chunk of metal peeled off the mechanical’s side, exposing mesh and gears like muscle and bone. Machinery squealed as if it were in actual pain. The other Cossacks remained in their trance, but that wouldn’t last long. Above Alice, children cried and screamed. The elephant was limping badly, and Alice could hear the pistons labor. More than one was bent or misaligned, though it was still able to speed along faster than a man could run. Alice clung grimly to its trunk, praying it wouldn’t break down. Simon ran lightly along the wall, heading for the door as well, but the Cossacks were concentrating their fire on the elephant instead of him. He arrived at the door and bent down to scoop up Kemp’s head just as the elephant reached him. With a quick move, he tossed the head up to Gavin in the gondola, then grabbed a handhold as the elephant thundered past and swung himself up.

  “Madam. Madam. Madam.”

  The elephant bolted onto the portico outside and down the front steps to the deserted courtyard. The banquet tables, still bearing the remains of the feast, stood between the elephant and the gate, which by a miracle stood open, no doubt from when the rest of the circus left. The elephant smashed the tables to flinders and charged into the street. The rifle fire died away.

  A number of emotions tried to push their way into Alice’s head and heart—fear, relief, pride, anger—but she forced herself to stay focused on the task at hand. Reach safe distance from the Gontas. Guide the elephant safely through the street. Bring the children back to the circus. Would the Gontas pursue? Alice had no idea. Right now, she had to get back to the circus, where there was help.

  “Alice!” Gavin called from above. “Alice!”

  His voice brought back the wave of sentiment. She ignored it, and him. Now that he was safe, she needed to deal with practical matters. Once they were back at the circus, they could talk. The elephant ran.

  “Madam. Madam. Madam.”

  “Alice!” Gavin shouted again.

  The journey was its own version of hell. Alice was terrified the Gontas were following, and she didn’t dare slow down, but neither did she want to trample anyone, and the dirty, narrow streets were difficult to navigate. Thank God she knew where she was going. People and traffic leaped out of the elephant’s way, some meekly, others with angry shouts. The elephant’s feet thudded unevenly on the cobblestones. Alice turned it one way, then another, always heading for the Dnepro River and the circus. The circus became a goal unto itself, a haven she had to reach at all costs.

  The elephant slowed, lurching more and more. A loud hissing started in one of
the little boilers inside its chest. But Alice could see the Tilt between the buildings.

  “Madam. Madam. Madam.”

  And then they were there. The circus was in something of a mess. People dashed in a number of directions, working and shouting and unhitching horses from wagons. Animals bellowed and screeched in their cages. And then Alice remembered that they had been rudely dismissed from the Gonta-Zalizniak house and must have only just returned.

  “Alice!” Gavin called again. “God, Alice. Get up here!”

  This time Alice listened. She quickly climbed up to the gondola, cursing the difficulty of doing so in a skirt. Simon helped her in. Feng stood in one corner of the gondola, his scarred face impassive, Kemp’s head at his feet. Nine of the children lay or sat on the floor, some of them crying softly, most of them numb. Gavin knelt, cradling the tenth, the little girl in the ragged gray dress. It was the girl Alice had first cured. Gavin’s jaw was trembling, and then Alice saw that the front of the girl’s dress was stained with blood. All the strength went out of her and she dropped to the floor of the gondola beside the child.

  “No,” she whispered. “No, no, no. Is she—?”

  “Dead,” Simon said. “Rifle fire hit her when you went back.”

  Guilt and horror crushed Alice to the gondola floor. Tears welled in her eyes and her throat closed. She took the little body from Simon and cradled it. The little girl’s body lay in her arms like a warm rag doll. Her mouth lolled open. Alice wept. This child would never see her parents or play house or bite a slice of bread or kiss a boy or breathe spring air. All her hopes and memories had vanished like fog in sunlight, as if they had never existed. A month ago, when she had eaten breakfast with her family, she’d had no idea that one day her corpse would lay in the arms of a stranger on the back of a mechanical monster. And it was Alice’s doing. Alice wished desperately that she could change places with her, but God was never so kind.