He caught sight of her and held up his hand in greeting, but before he could say anything Carleigh pointed back to where she could still see Thorne, clad in his PO uniform, in the entryway. Wheeler nodded and motioned Carleigh to his office.
Once inside his large and extravagantly furnished office, Carleigh gave him a big hug. “It’s so good to see my not-so-little brother.”
She sat in the chair he pulled out for her. “What kind of trouble you in? I get a message about a bomb at the mayor’s office, then I hear there was a bomb down at Kim’s place, and now here you are with a PO in tow.”
“Kim’s Kim, same-old, same-old. It’s the incident with the Mayor that I’m looking into. And the PO, well, he came in handy at Kim’s and he’s not going to let me shake him.”
Wheeler scratched at the rough hairs on his chin. “I thought I was the one who lived on the edge.”
“You know how it is when you get wrapped into something. I can’t just leave it and hope someone else gets to the bottom of it.”
“You could have asked me to send someone.”
“I needed to make sure that you don’t think someone is trying to send you a message by attacking me.”
“That’s highly unlikely. The true identity of the Lighton Upper State boss is highly-guarded and virtually unknown. If someone did know it was me, they’d come at me here, they wouldn’t attack my family as a first offensive.”
Carleigh pressed her hand to her heart. “I figured as much. Thank you though, I needed to hear it.”
“That’s not all though, am-I-’ight?” He picked up a ball from his desk and tossed it in the air, catching it with the other hand.
“I need you to hook me up with someone who might know who paid Kim a whole lot of money to do that job. There has to be a money trail. She wouldn’t risk herself unless the earning was worth it.”
“Money runs like water through those people’s hands down there. They don’t track it like we do up here.”
“Yeah, but I also know that there are people with eyes and ears down there. Some of them on your payroll.”
“I really don’t want you getting into this,” he said, crossing his arms. “But I know you’re just as stubborn as I am and ain’t nothing I’mma say will make you turn back now. Here.” He put the ball down and rifled through a desk drawer, pulling out a large coin and sliding it across the desk to her. “I’ll tell you who to see, and what to say to get her to talk, but until you show her that, she won’t believe you.”
“Are you sending me back to the Under State?”
“I can send someone for you, if you want.” He looked toward his door. “You can’t bring the PO with my guy though.”
Carleigh shook her head. “It’s okay, I’ll go with the PO. I think he’s as invested in this as I am.”
Wheeler nodded. “That’s good. You’ll be safe with him. You’re going to the canal side anyway, so it shouldn’t be too bad.” He gave her the details on the location and the description of the person she was to meet.
“See you at Mom’s for dinner on Sunday?”
“You know it. Wouldn’t dare miss it.”
She left his office, carefully tucking away the coin.
Thorne wasn’t where Carleigh left him. Angry heat flared up her neck and into her face. “I told you to stay put, where are you?”
“Not eavesdropping, if that’s what you’re thinking.” Thorne called to her from a bit further down the mechanic barn, where he was playing with the furry residents. She watched as the calico cat, perched up high on a shelf, meowed at him and pawed at his epaulets.
“Alright, I'll pet you,” he chuckled, and as he did she went back to eating out of her bowl. Meanwhile, the barn dog, Daisy, lay on the ground at Thorne’s feet, frozen, belly-up in anticipation.
Carleigh raised her eyebrows. “Looks like you made some chums here.”
“Nah, they’re just friendly.”
“Nope.” She reached down to scratch Daisy’s waiting belly, “They usually hate strangers. Daisy here will bark, and Josie will run to the office and hide. It’s how the mechanics usually know when anyone unexpected shows up.”
He shrugged and smiled sheepishly. “It must be the uniform or something.”
She snuck a look at Thorne, who was completely focused on the animals. A warm feeling formed in her chest.
“Did you see the rest of them?” She asked, pointing out the other little faces peering at them from nooks and crannies.
“Woah, no, I didn’t.”
“They keep the rat population down around here, so they’re cared for in return.” She started toward the exit and Thorne followed her.
“That’s cool.”
“Know what else is cool? Going back to Under State.”
4
“It’s getting near lunch, don’t you think we should stop and get something to eat?”
Carleigh lifted an eyebrow and smirked at him. “Guess what, you’re in luck.”
“Under State food? Is food down there edible for our delicate Lighton stomachs?”
Instead of taking the elevator in the gorge to the backside of Under State, they went to the edge of town to the fancy steam gondola system. The city spent massive amounts of money on it a decade ago to entice visitors up from the canal, but it had failed to do so and was now often unused. The people of Lighton didn’t care to go down, and the Under State folk didn’t care to go up. But, it was still there and it still made for a nice ride if one had reason to go one place or the other.
“You know, this was one of my favorite spots to come out and stargaze when I was a kid,” Thorne said when they got on and activated their unit.
“I don’t think these things are safe for kids. What was your mother thinking?”
“I meant when I was a teenager, late teens. Don’t go bringing mama Adams into this. That woman is an angel.”
Carleigh laughed. “Okay, no offense intended.” A twirling noise on her hat drew her attention. She pulled it down and assessed Sweetums.
“Do you need some attention?” The little eyeball rolled again, this time slowly, to indicate that he was, in fact, just looking for some interaction.
“What is that?” Thorne asked.
“My buddy,” Carleigh said. “He’s not dangerous, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
“No, I just thought he looked cool.”
“Oh,” she said. “I’ll take that as a compliment, seeing as I designed him.”
“You should be proud.”
They exited the gondola and followed Wheeler’s directions to a combo restaurant and gambling den that looked right out onto the water. They went inside and were greeted by neon lights and the tinkling sound of mechanical slot machines.
“Why don’t you go to the bar and order us some food. It might make it easier to talk without an officer breathing down our necks. Plus, then you can keep an eye out for things.”
“Like flying bombs?”
“Yeah, stuff like that.”
The place was busier than Carleigh thought it would be, but it didn’t take long to find the contact. Wheeler had told her what Mathilda would look like, but he did not tell her how striking she would be. Carleigh’s eyes were instantly glued to the flawless dark complexion bordered by tight curls.
“Hi,” Carleigh said, walking up to her table.
“You’re from Lighton. Who sent you?” She asked.
Without a word, Carleigh showed her the coin.
“Sit,” she said, not asking for any more details. “Let me hear it.” She motioned for the waiter to bring two more of the drink in front of her.
Carleigh explained the situation and how she was sent to her for information that could lead to a break in the case.
“You just think you can walk in here and ask for my help? That his word is enough? That’s just one thing. Payment is another.”
Carleigh shook her head. “Of course. I’m willing to discuss payment, or potentially working it off for you.
I have a clockwork shop and am very good at repairs.”
“And customs?” she asked.
Carleigh pursed her lips. She didn’t like the sound of that.
“Calm down, girl. Nothing dirty. I hav’an idea for something I’d like made for my girl.”
The waiter dropped off two new drinks for them, as well as a burger for Carleigh. “We toast to a deal then?” Mathilda said. “I give you some tidbits, and you make me a pretty clockbot for my missus?”
Carleigh raised her drink and clinked her glass, hoping that the information was worth the time and materials that the request was going to cost her. Both women took a drink of the violent yellow liquid in front of them. Carleigh managed not to gag, and reached for the burger to help her keep it down.
“Now, here’s what I know. Your girl, Kim, she was no doubt contracted by this new player in town. You can’t throw a pebble down here without hitting a craftsman who’s gotten a job from them.”
“So you know who it is?” Carleigh’s heart lept, excited to be so close to the answer she was looking for.
“Calm down, no I don’t know who it is. No one does. It’s got all the bosses worried, either someone new is coming into their territory or some underling is embezzling money and getting ready to take a move.”
“Wouldn’t they look first for someone new? Someone who just moved into the area?”
“Of course they would!” Mathilda snapped. “They did. There’s no one new. They combed Under State from top to bottom.”
“But now with the explosion in the mayor’s office, doesn’t it look like this person is going after the mayor instead of an Under State boss?”
“Aye.” Mathilda said, taking another drink. “But that really makes ’em even more ticked, because if someone goes into that mayor’s office with any info that would take down the Under State or annex it into da law-abbiding Lighton, it would spell the end of it all for all bosses.”
Ah. It made sense now. “So that’s why you’re being so generous with your words? Because the bosses want this person taken down too?”
Mathilda laughed a deep and hearty sound. “And I’mma get a one of a kind piece out of it.”
Carleigh sighed. “Okay, fine. Well, what do we know about this person?”
Before Mathilda could answer, Thorne was at their table. “We got a problem,” he said.
“Who are you?” Mathilda asked.
But Carleigh was following where Thorne’s arm was pointing, which led to the front wall of the place, which was swarming with insects.
“Bugs? Is this normal?” Carleigh asked. Perhaps she just hadn’t heard that insect swarms were a common irritant. But then, her trained ears heard it: the clicking sound of gears turning and inner clockworks working, but minimized to a micro high-pitched tuning noise.
“They are micro-clock-bots,” she breathed.
“Well, whatever, let’s get out of here.”
The other patrons had caught sight of the swarm and were screaming, turning over tables to try to get to the exit, but then stopping when they saw the doorway was swarmed with them.
“What do we do?” Mathilda took a fighting stance. She had drawn a cutlass from somewhere and was holding it pointed toward the bugs.
Carleigh knew a knife wasn’t going to be the answer. She looked around for anything that would help, stopping at her yellow drink sitting on the table. Without hesitation, she grabbed it, and strode to the exit, splashing the liquid over the closest group of bugs. She heard tiny gears from the ones hit by the liquid grinding to a halt.
“Not water, anything sugary or super alcoholic, that will get them,” she shouted to the people. They followed along, throwing their drinks. The bartender handed out bottles so people could work together to stop the swarm that was continuing inside and over all surfaces.
It was only a matter of minutes until the swarm had been stopped, and no sign of a new swarm was in sight. The stray bugs that had escaped into crevices were darting around, seemingly lost without their brethren. Carleigh stomped one, showing how easy they were to destroy with force. The patrons, at least the ones who hadn’t fled, smashed everything that moved with boots, mugs, or anything they could use.
Carleigh bent down to get a closer look at a stomped bug. “These are only a threat in big numbers. I really wonder why anyone would have bothered.” She saw a live one darting around.
“Wait!” She told Thorne, who was ready to stomp it. She grabbed an empty glass off the bar and managed to capture the bug in it. “I want to look at it closer, and see if I can find any clues.”
“That’s really gross,” Mathilda said.
“Job hazard.”
5
Carleigh and Thorne left Mathilda, who was heading off to spread word of the incident to her network.
“You really think the docks are where we’re going to find some answers?” Thorne asked Carleigh.
She shrugged. “I’m not sure, but I hope so. If Mathilda is right, and there are regular shipments coming in that are then being tugged off somewhere, there is a good chance we can find some now, right after the afternoon delivery hour.”
“And anyone sneaking around there will just be snoops, like us,” he agreed, since no one in the Canal district worked before noon. They were up all hours of the night, and the earliest that shipments got unloaded onto the docks was after noon, which was the current time.
“I’m sure we’ll find something. There is no one in town who could be working on anything like this. I would’ve heard.” She didn’t want to tell him that she would have heard from her brother for certain. He would be concerned if someone was new out there and potentially positioning themselves to take Carleigh’s clients. “Anyone with the talent, capabilities, or knowledge to make these is either new in town and trying to make a show of things, or not living in the town at all. If you’re able to make these, you aren’t going to be able to make a living off them in Lighton. There’s no demand.”
“And your old friend Kim isn’t just hiding a new hobby from you?”
Carleigh snorted. “She really just never had a knack for clockworks, and with her free time spent in bombs now there’s no way she would have developed well enough to make micro-botworks.”
Once they were on the outskirts of the canal, the docks came into view. On one side, an area welcomed visitors off their boats. It was relatively clean and safe-looking, and was infested with carts and sellers pushing food and goods on the tourists.
At the other side of the docks was a platform with several different doors leading into a large grey warehouse. It’s where all the shipped items sat before they were picked up and delivered by Under State couriers. Most of the goods stayed in Under State, since the majority of Lighton shipping was done by airship, but every once in a while someone wanted something a little on the dark side, and then they would use one of the couriers to deliver it to them.
Carleigh had kept the live bug in a pouch and had packed away a few of the smashed and sprayed ones for inspection. She pulled one out and studied it. “Notice how they have this purple tint to them?” She pointed out to Thorne. “We don’t have metals with a purple tint to them. Ours are orange and red. But purple is real common north-west of here, so we’re going to be looking for shipping containers from cities that way.”
Thorne smiled at her. “You’re really full of surprises.”
“What? That I know my business? You better believe I do, I’m good at it.” But she found herself smiling back. It was nice to be admired, especially by a man with such charming dimples.
They easily entered the warehouse through an open shipping door. It was dead inside with no one around. They scuttled about and looked at the different boxes.
“Westnomer,” Thorne shouted over to Carleigh. “A shipping town north-west of here. That’s where these are from.”
Carleigh made her way over to where Thorne was already using a found crowbar to pry the lid off of one crate.
Sure enough, it
was full of large amounts of the purple ore.
“This is a lot of materials,” Carleigh said, looking at how many crates surrounded them. “If these other ones are similar, then whoever is doing this is making some big plans.”
“With a lot of those tiny bugs? That seems like a lot of work, but to what end?”
Voices echoed through the warehouse and Thorne pulled Carleigh behind a divider wall.
Behind them, several workers approached the crates with the purple ore. Carleigh tried to peer around to get a good look at them, but Thorne tugged her hand and led her back through an empty aisle.
“This must be their boat,” he said, when they were outside the warehouse.
“They can’t be going too far in a ship that size,” Carleigh said. “It’s a local cruiser, not one that goes from town to town.”
“It goes out far enough that they have to take a boat instead of a town-wagon,” Thorne pointed out.
“Doesn’t matter. I want answers, you want answers, and this is how we get them.”
They hid around the building and watched the crew take the first load of crates onboard. When they went back inside to get the next load, Thorne ran straight for the ship with Carleigh following close behind him. He waited for her to get on first, keeping his hand on his gun holster and watching for any surprise crew members. She hopped lightly from the dock to the boat, feeling it bob down with her weight, and bob again when Thorne landed on deck.
“They took the cargo down here, let’s go.” Thorne said, showing her to the stairs.
The little cargo area looked already cram-packed with the crates that had been stored there, but Carleigh was able to rejig the boxes, with Thorne’s help, to make room for herself and him in the back.
“We’ll have to be careful when they are unloading,” she said. “So we can stay hidden but get out before they take the last of the crates out.”
The space they made was quite small, so it wouldn’t be noticeable that the room had been disrupted. Carleigh went in first, sticking herself into the corner. Thorne followed her in, pulling the end crates to close their entryway and conceal them further.
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