Clockwork Heart

by Dru Pagliassotti

  Taya dropped her hands and swatted her friend across the head.

  “The boyfriends! What did you tell him about the boyfriends?”

  Cassi laughed.

  “I told him every man in the eyrie adores you and it wasn’t any of his business how many boyfriends you’ve had, because if he doesn’t respect you for who you are now, he doesn’t deserve to have you.”

  Taya stared at her friend, then let out a long breath.

  “I love you.”

  “I know.” Cassi sounded smug. “And you better remember that answer if anyone asks you about me.”

  “I will,” Taya promised, fervently.

  “So, do you like him?”

  “He used to be kind of a pain, but….”

  “That’s a ‘yes.’”

  “That’s a ‘there’s hope.’ We haven’t had much quiet time together, and I’m worried about how he’s going to handle his brother being sentenced. He’s the kind of man who’d rather pull away than open up.”

  “Aren’t they all.” Cassi patted her arm. “Hey, no worries. Third time’s the charm, right?”

  Taya made a face.

  “Well, you hated the last two guys I was serious about. What do you think about Cris?”

  Cassi shrugged, her silver wings rippling.

  “He’s smart. Intense. Stressed.”

  Taya nodded.

  “Not ugly,” her friend continued, “but not as cute as the other two. That’s probably a good thing. He won’t count on his looks to get him what he wants.”

  “I don’t think he expects to get anything.”

  “Probably comes from living out of caste. I have to admit, seeing his marks out in the open like that is pretty creepy.”

  “He said he’s not going to wear a mask again.”

  “That’d be better for you. And, you know, it’s a good sign that he was asking about your boyfriends. If all he wanted was a mistress, he wouldn’t care, right?”

  “You think so?” Taya looked hopefully at her friend.

  “Your friend’s right, she is,” Gregor said. Both women jumped, regarding him with startled indignation. The coachman looked apologetic. “I’d no intention of eavesdropping but, you know, there ain’t a man in the world cares about a woman’s past until he’s thinking of her in his future. That’s when a man starts considering repute and reliability, now, ain’t it?”

  “So you’ve got nothing to worry about,” Cassi assured Taya. “If I were him, I’d be more worried about my own reputation. The guy’s an outcaste clockmaker with two murderers in the family. He’s going to have to be one awfully sweet boyfriend to be worth your time.”

  “He’s working on it,” Taya said, with a half-smile.

  “He’d better be. Don’t settle for second best.”

  “That would have been Alister.”

  “Are you ready to go, then, Icarus?” Gregor asked. Taya collected her thoughts.

  “Yes. To the hospital on Secundus.” She gave him directions. “Cassi, take off your armature so we can talk on the way over.”

  “I’m supposed to be working.” Cassi glanced up toward the docking cliffs, then shrugged. “I guess they won’t miss me for a few more minutes.”

  They maneuvered Cassi’s wings into the hack with some effort and contorted themselves around the unwieldy armature as the coach rattled down to Secundus. Taya filled her friend in about the stolen analytical engine and the missing programmer.

  “Are you sure this doesn’t have anything to do with Alister Forlore? I mean, it’s a pretty big coincidence, if you ask me. Secret programs, analytical engines…”

  “I think this theft has been planned for a long time, and the thieves took advantage of the confusion around Alister’s arrest to make their move.”

  Cassi frowned. “So, what can Pyke and I do?”

  “Keep your eyes open for any wagon with lots of crates in it that might be moving around at an odd time of the day, or any activity around buildings that might usually be empty. Lictors only see everything sector by sector, but we see the whole city. If we keep an eye out—”

  “Won’t they already have military icarii looking around?”

  “Sure, but they don’t know the city the way we do.”

  “So if we see something suspicious, alert the authorities.”

  “Right. And Pyke’s got all his spooky conspiracy contacts, right? Maybe he can get something from them.”

  “Maybe.” Cassi drew the word out. “Okay, I’ll ask around.”

  “But don’t tell anyone that an engine’s missing. Not until the lictors release the information.”

  “No problem.”

  The coach slowed and pulled over in front of the same hospital Taya had visited with Lieutenant Amcathra a few days before.

  Cassi slid out and buckled on her armature. “I’ll look for you at that punch-jockey bar later on?”

  “Could you bring my armature with you? Just in case I don’t make it back to the eyrie?”

  “If I can get it out of the shop.” Cassi pulled on her flight gloves. “You be careful, okay? Don’t let anyone else shoot at you.”

  A nurse directed Taya to the hospital room where she found the Demican sitting up in a chair playing cards with his guard.

  “Excuse me,” Taya said, standing in the doorway. “May I come in?”

  The lictor frowned, setting down her cards, as the Demican regarded her crutches with open curiosity.

  “The little warrior has met her match?” he asked, not unkindly, in Demican.

  “The man who shot me is dead,” Taya replied in Demican. She wasn’t proud of it, but it was the response that would most impress him. As she expected, he laughed with appreciation.

  “Good. That is the best fate for a man who would use a gun on his prey.”

  “I am glad to see you are healing,” she continued, studying him.

  “It seems my spirit will not be visiting you on Darkday.”

  “Excuse me,” the lictor said with annoyance, “but who are you?”

  “I’m Taya Icarus,” Taya replied, dropping into Ondinan again. “I was responsible for putting this man into the hospital, and I wanted to see how he was doing.”

  “Taya Icarus.” The lictor’s voice was cool. “So I guess this man was the lucky one, huh?”

  “Yeah.” Taya winced, then turned to the Demican and began to speak in his language again. “The two Alzanans you were working with — did they ever mention anything about stealing one of the city’s metal brains?” It was the closest Demican came to ‘analytical engine.’

  “They talked about stealing many things. Your wings, ‘punch cards’” —he used the Ondinan words, so heavily accented they were almost meaningless— “people, metal brains, weapons. I should have known better than to work with scavengers.”

  “Did they talk to anyone else about their plans?”

  “Other Alzanans.”

  “Where?”

  “In Slagside, in the place with the red door that I told you of earlier.”

  Taya chewed on her lip. Had Amcathra followed up that lead? Maybe, but the wireferry bombing happened immediately afterward.

  “Icarus, unless you have clearance to talk to this prisoner, you should leave,” the lictor insisted.

  “Can you tell me anything else about the Alzanans?” Taya asked quickly, in Demican.

  “They spoke often about a bombing.” The Demican shrugged. “Bombs are no better than guns. They are both cowardly ways to kill.”

  The lictor was standing, one hand dropping to the pistol at her belt. Taya hopped backward on her crutches.

  “I agree,” she said, in Demican, then added in Ondinan, “I’m leaving, I’m leaving.”

  “Wh
at were you talking about?” the woman asked, her expression full of suspicion.

  “Spirits, scavengers, and guns.” Taya glanced at the woman’s weapon. “Demicans think firearms are a coward’s weapon.”

  “I don’t give a damn what Demicans think.”

  “No reason why you should.” Taya nodded to the prisoner, then limped out, feeling the back of her neck crawl under the lictor’s glare.

  Gregor helped her back into the coach.

  “Do you know a bar with a red door in Slagside?” Taya asked, setting her crutches by her.

  “Slagside, is it? There ain’t much call for hacks down there, even where the roads would be wide enough for one. You’ve no desire to go there, now, do you?”

  “Maybe.” Taya sighed. “Do you know anyone familiar with the bars in Slagside?”

  “No, not a one.” Gregor shrugged. “People who pass their time in Slagside ain’t people I care to count as friends. Smugglers, thieves, and cutthroats all.”

  “Surely not all of them.”

  “Enough of ’em for it to be a bad place for an outsider to visit. A pretty girl on crutches, especially, don’t you think?”

  “Then do you know the Pickled Thalassonaut?”

  “The only danger you’ll be facing there is being bored to death. Be that our next stop, then?”

  “If you don’t mind. And I’ll pay for your meal there, too, because I’ll probably stay a while.”

  “Fine with me. Bolt and I could use a rest, the two of us could.” Gregor closed the door and climbed back to the driver’s seat.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Taya found Alister’s programming team, with the notable and worrisome exception of Kyle, desultorily arguing about a new program and keeping a close eye on the door. She left Gregor to tend Bolt and joined their table. It didn’t escape her that the other programmers in the bar were watching Alister’s team with open suspicion.

  With the exception of Kyle’s possible kidnapping, Taya filled them in on everything she’d learned.

  “Slagside, huh?” Victor asked, his eyes narrowing. “Dangerous place.”

  “It’s not much of a lead,” she admitted, “but it might be worth looking into. Assuming the Alzanans are involved.”

  “Give me half an hour.” The programmer stood, then stopped. Taya followed his gaze and saw Pyke and Cassi walking in, holding her armature and flight suit.

  “You got it!” Taya leaped to her feet, then dropped back into her chair again with a wince. “Ouch.”

  “Yeah.” Pyke was staring at Victor. The two men held each other’s gaze, and then the icarus looked away, maneuvering the floating armature through the tavern to her table. “I signed out for it, too, so if you break it again, I’ll have to answer to my uncle.”

  “I won’t break it,” Taya promised, grabbing his hand and squeezing it.

  “Better not.”

  “Hey, watch it,” a programmer at another table growled, ducking Cassi’s wings as she maneuvered around to join them. “This isn’t a bird bar.”

  “Mouth off and you’ll never get a letter again, punch jockey,” Cassi retorted, leaning on the back of Taya’s chair. She addressed her friend. “We’re off work now.”

  “Good. Join us.” Taya made the introductions, then stood to inspect her armature.

  “We’ve met,” Pyke said, nodding to Victor.

  “Taya was asking about a bar in Slagside.” Victor paused. “If we’re heading down there, I’ve got a contact who might be able to help. A friend interested in inquiry and liberation, if you know what I mean.”

  “Oh, Lady save us, they’re both conspirators,” Cassi groaned. “If you two are going to talk spook stuff, do it outside.”

  “I’m so glad somebody else thinks that’s way outside normal operating parameters,” Isobel said, reaching across the table and offering her hand. “If you get Victor started on politics, he’ll rant for hours.”

  “Pyke’s the same,” Cassi said, shaking hands with her.

  “Pyke!” Taya said. “There’s a hack outside, driven by a man named Gregor. He can take you and Victor on my tab, if you’ve got a long way to go.”

  Pyke nodded, deep in conversation with the dour programmer.

  “I wonder where they’re off to,” Emelie said as they walked out together. “We don’t need any more political trouble.”

  “Politics is always trouble,” Lars muttered.

  Cassi waved to the bartender for another pitcher. Meanwhile, Taya tethered her floating armature to a tableleg and inspected her flight suit. The physicians had exacerbated the damage Cristof had started, slicing the suit’s leg open to help her out of it the day before.

  “Do you think this can be fixed?” she asked, fingering the damage.

  “Probably not.” Cassi poured her a beer. “But as long as you aren’t going airborne, a torn leg won’t matter.”

  “I guess not.” Taya sighed, running a hand over the oiled leather. “I liked this suit, though.”

  “Get the top cut into a jacket.” Cassi grinned and stroked the fur draped over the back of Taya’s chair. “Then I can borrow this.”

  “So, why are you icarii here, anyway?” Emelie asked, in a challenging tone.

  “Taya said we might be able to help find the you-know-what,” Cassi replied. “And I’ve never been in here before. It never hurts to try a new bar, even a punch-jockey bar.”

  “I don’t understand why Kyle hasn’t shown up yet,” Lars sighed. “Do you think Vic was right? Could he have been working with the thieves?”

  “All Victor said was that Kyle was a suspect,” Taya corrected, hating her inability to tell him everything. “Kyle struck me as an honest, responsible man. I don’t think he’s a spy.”

  “No, but I would have said that about Alister, too. I was thinking…”

  “What?”

  “What if Kyle got there before me and ran into them? Maybe they did something to him.”

  Taya’s hands tightened around her metal tankard.

  “If they did,” she said, choosing her words with care, “he’d be too valuable to hurt. Anyone who wants an analytical engine will want a programmer.”

  “Yeah, that’s true.” The big man looked hopeful. “And Kyle’s smart enough to let them know that, too. So if the lictors find the engine—”

  “They might find Kyle, too. If the thieves have him. But he could be someplace else, couldn’t he? Visiting family, or a girlfriend or something?” Taya echoed Cristof’s words.

  “Nah, Izzy asked at his brother’s house. They haven’t seen him.”

  “And the only person Kyle likes is you, Lars,” Emelie said, standing. “This is depressing. I’m leaving.”

  “Are you sure?” Taya asked. “Cris — Exalted Forlore said he’d stop by tonight, if he can, to tell us how the investigation is going.”

  Emelie vacillated, then shrugged.

  “Maybe I’ll stop by later. But I’ve got things to do.”

  “We’ll send a message to your flat if anything changes,” Isobel said. Emelie nodded and walked off, buttoning her coat. The tall blonde turned and patted Lars on the shoulder. “Cheer up. It’ll be all right. A lot of people are looking for him.”

  They sat around drinking and talking for another hour. Taya excused herself for a few minutes and went into a back room to change into her flight suit. She felt better wearing it, even if one leg flapped. By the time the city clocks struck six, Victor and Pyke had returned, looking satisfied and paying for Gregor’s delayed meal. The coachman sat at a table by the door, keeping an eye on his hack, while the two men rejoined them.

  “Where’s Em?” Victor asked, dropping into a chair.

  “She went home,” Isobel said. “She said she might be back later.”

 
; “Did you find out anything about the red door?” Taya asked.

  “Nothing useful.”

  Disappointed, Taya slumped in her chair, then glanced up as the conversations around them died.

  “We are not here to arrest anybody,” Lieutenant Amcathra announced, walking in. The bar’s patrons muttered, then fell silent again as Cristof followed the lictor. A few made awkward bows. Others just stared with shock at the exalted’s naked face.

  The two men brushed past the tables and joined them. The team and Cassi bowed. Pyke waved a hand vaguely in front of his face. Cristof ignored them all.

  “You have your wings again.” He sounded disapproving as he dropped his hands on the back of Taya’s chair. “I thought the doctor said you were grounded.”

  “Oooh, the outcaste’s bossy, as well as a prude,” Cassi said, her voice carrying as she stared Cristof in the eye.

  Cristof’s lips tightened, and Taya realized that everyone around the table was staring at him with various degrees of interest. A number of programmers at the other tables were gaping, too.

  The outcaste and the icarus locked gazes. At last Cristof gave the same low, irritable noise that Taya recognized from their arguments past.

  “I’m also a slagging pain in the tailset and very rarely sweet. Do you have a problem with that, Icarus?”

  “‘Rarely’ sweet,” Taya corrected. “You’ve worked your way up to ‘rarely,’ remember?”

  The tension broke, and Cassi rolled her eyes while the others chuckled.

  “‘Sweet’ is a side of you I have not seen, Exalted,” Lieutenant Amcathra remarked, deadpan. “I have, however, noticed the other three traits.”

  “Then he is a prude,” Cassi said, triumphantly.

  Cristof leaned over the chair and gave Taya a faint, crooked smile.

  “How are you feeling?” he asked in a low voice.

  “All right. We’ve got some news and maybe even a lead or two.”

  “So do we. Why does your friend think I’m a prude?”

  “Because you were asking about my former boyfriends.”

  “Oh.” He glanced across the table at Cassi. “I should have known she’d talk.”