by Kaja Foglio
Zeetha almost stumbled with surprise, but caught herself and a grin slowly spread across her face. “You do?” She ostentatiously cracked her knuckles. “Now that’s interesting.”95
“Stay back,” Lucrezia demanded.
Zeetha’s grin grew more predatory. “Or what? You’ll hurt Agatha? So what? She’s tough, she’ll get over it.” Zeetha gave a feral grin. “You’ll kill her? I don’t think you could do it hard enough. Not here.”
Lucrezia’s eyes narrowed. “Then I’ll just have to settle for a distraction.” And with that she swept the heavy crown of lights off of her head and flung it towards the array. It tore into the machinery near Gil’s slab. Lightning and exploding droplets of molten metal erupted and the air filled with smoke.
Zeetha didn’t bother to look. She lashed out with a looping right cross that snapped Lucrezia’s head to one side.
“How is that supposed to distract me,” Zeetha sneered. “That’s a problem for the Sparks. My job is to take you out so they can work.” She paused to deliver a neat backhand punch to Fraulein Snaug, who had been sneaking up behind her. “Although that was a nice try.”
Lucrezia rubbed her jaw and visibly rallied. “Wretched girl! Did you think I would fold with one punch?” She swayed slightly. “Or… or was that two?”
Her teeth snapped together with an audible clack as Zeetha danced in and delivered a quick uppercut.
“Nah,” Zeetha said judiciously, “It’ll take twenty punches. Maybe thirty—you’re wound pretty tight.”
“That’s right, I am!” Lucrezia snarled as she leapt forward. “Which means I only have to hit you once!”
Violetta slammed a boot into the side of her head, then stood over her, peering down into her face. “Oh, like I’m going to let that happen.”
Zeetha looked offended. “Hey! Hey! I’m working here. You got DuMedd out, I’m wearing her down.”
Violetta snorted. “As far as I can see, you’re just waltzing around and playing with her. You’d better let up, or you’re really going to hurt her. She’s already worn down.”
Lucrezia uncoiled from the floor and caught Violetta with a punch to the jaw that lifted her feet from the floor.
Zeetha shrugged modestly. “See? She’s not ‘worn out’, I’m just really good.”
Violetta waved a hand from where she’d landed. “Okay, yeah, got it. Thanks.”
Professor Mezzasalma stared in horror at the lightning that enveloped Gil. “The controls are fused,” he cried. “I can’t shut it down! He’s going to fry—and no power on Earth can stop it!”
Suddenly, the lightning storm vanished. There was popping and the cooling of metal. Mezzasalma turned, astonished, to see von Zinzer holding up the plug end of the cable that had connected the main array to the power generators. Mezzasalma stared at von Zinzer a moment, then smacked him on the back of the head.
Tarvek took control. “Get Gil out of there!” he ordered. “Clear off that table and find me a medical bag!”
Gil was unconscious. The four men decoupled him and hauled him to a clear bench. Tarvek examined him and bit his lip in frustration.
“Hey!” Von Zinzer poked Gil’s arm. “His color is back to normal.” He looked at Tarvek. “You too.”
Tarvek stared at his own hand in astonishment, then glanced at Lucrezia. She was also back to normal.
“DIE!” Lucrezia screamed.
Sort of normal. “So how is Wulfenbach doing?” Von Zinzer asked.
“Not good,” Tarvek reported. “We haven’t finished the last part of the process yet.” He gave Gil a gentle slap. “Hey! Gil! Hang on! The system’s been damaged!”
Mezzasalma grabbed von Zinzer and Sleipnir. “The two of you, come with me. I want a full diagnostic!”
Tarvek leaned in and muttered, “If you die before it gets fixed, I swear I’ll kill you!”
To his astonishment, Gil’s eyes fluttered halfway open. “Afraid you won’t have time,” he whispered.
Violetta sprang back to her feet. “So if you’re so hot, why are you still fooling around with her?”
Zeetha looked offended. “I’m not ‘fooling around’, I’m learning.” She waved towards a swaying Lucrezia. “For instance, she’s lousy at hand-to-hand combat.”
“I will crush you,” Lucrezia snarled.
“Probably she’s used to batting her eyes and wiggling her hips and getting other people to do her fighting for her.”
Lucrezia’s face went red. “SILENCE!”
Zeetha grinned. “Plus, she’s pretty bossy.”
Lucrezia kicked a hammer that lay on the floor, sending it flying at Zeetha’s head. As Zeetha ducked, Lucrezia rushed her. Zeetha casually stepped to one side and held out an arm, sending Lucrezia crashing onto her back. “She is pretty good at dirty fighting, though,” she said admiringly. “It might help if we knew where Agatha’s locket was.”
Violetta gave a guilty start. “Oh, I’ve got it. So you knock her down and sit on her and I’ll slap it back on.”
An embarrassment flitted across Zeetha’s face. “Ah. Well…all kidding aside, she’s a little too strong for me one-on-one. She’s ignoring blows that should bring her down. Agatha is going to ache all over when she gets back.” Zeetha shrugged. “I mean, don’t get me wrong, I could hit her harder but that might kill her. It’s all I can do to keep her from escaping.” She gave Violetta a look. “If you’re so good at sneaking, why don’t you—”
Violetta shook her head. “I’ve been trying, but she’s too fast, and she knows my moves. She’s ready for them.”
Zeetha frowned. “I didn’t see you do anything.”
“I should hope not.”
Von Zinzer dashed up. “Why are you two still fooling around with her?”
Violetta scowled with irritation. “Don’t distract us. All we can do is dance with her until her revivification edge wears off.”
Von Zinzer rolled his eyes. “How long will that be?”
Violetta shrugged. “Ask the Sparks. Could be an hour. Maybe two.”
“Can you speed it up? Sturmvoraus needs her.”
“Well, he’ll just have to be patient.”
Von Zinzer rubbed his neck. “I don’t think he can. Wulfenbach’s dying.”
This caught Zeetha and Violetta by surprise, and they both turned to look toward the array and Gil. Lucrezia saw her opening. She sprang forward, both her fists connecting solidly with her opponent’s jaws. “Thank you for the distraction,” she sang out to von Zinzer. She jerked Zeetha up by her hair and gloated as she prepared to drive her fist in through the dazed girl’s eye. “I’ll be sure to tell dear Klaus that his boy was ever so helpful!”
She stopped. There was confusion in her eyes. “NO!” she shouted. “What?” Her head began to jerk from side to side, and she seemed to be arguing with herself. “He’s dying!”
“I don’t care!”
“NO!”
“I won’t…”
Zeetha, Violetta and von Zinzer stared as the shouts became more and more frantic.
“He’s dying!”
“How dare you!”
“HE’S DYING!”
“Give up!”
“NEVER!”
Lucrezia rocked back, then toppled to the ground. She curled into a ball on the floor, and then Agatha opened her eyes, panting. “And that is not going to happen in my Castle!” she finished.
Von Zinzer stared at her and gingerly began to help her up. “Hey… Are you…”
“My locket!” Agatha’s voice was strained, and sweat poured off of her. “Get it on me! Quickly!”
Violetta was already beside her. The clasp shut with a snap.
Agatha slumped and would have fallen if Violetta and von Zinzer hadn’t supported her. She was gasping for breath.
Zeetha watched as she slowly got to her feet. “Good girl. That was… impressive. Remember you can do that. Preferably sooner next time.”
Agatha nodded. “Gil. It was…” She looked at von Zinzer.
“He’s in trouble?”
“Prince Sturmvarous says he’s dying.”
Gil lay on the table and stared upwards. He felt things beginning to close in on him. He was so tired, and really, what had it all been for? Perhaps it would be a…a relief to let go and—
Agatha slammed her hands onto the table and screamed in his ear. “DON’T YOU DARE!”
Gil was instantly shocked back to awareness. Agatha’s face loomed before him, her eyes filled with fury. “Is this supposed to impress us? ‘Oooh, all my friends went and died, so now I have to do it too.’”
The sheer absurdity of this gave Gil’s brain a kickstart and he tried to answer. He made a soft gurgle of protest.
“Oh, no you don’t! Don’t even try to justify it,” Agatha said hotly. “You do not get to die just because ‘everyone else did!’ Do you hear me?” She pounded the table next to his shoulder.
A small flame of outrage awoke in Gil’s mind and began to grow, fed by sheer frustration. He stirred, and began to formulate a devastating reply to Agatha’s unfair accusations. He then realized, with even more frustration, that he was unlikely to get a chance to deliver it.
Tarvek had been frozen with horror at the scene before him, but finally sputtered to life. “Agatha! What the devil are you doing to him?”
He was about to stride forward when a hand grabbed his harness and jerked him back. Tarvek turned and saw Sleipnir staring at the medical readouts. “Whatever she’s doing—don’t make her stop. Gil’s readings are improving.” She gave a quick grin. “He always loved a good argument.”
Elsewhere in the silent castle, a small group of prisoners huddled at the bottom of a deep stone pit. They were the last survivors of the group Zola had driven into unknown parts of the Castle in pursuit of Agatha and now they were trapped by the Castle, waiting for death in the dark.
Sanaa still hoped for rescue. She could see the slight opening several meters above them where the floor had tilted and thrown them all down here. Nervously, she ran her hand through her pink tinted hair and screamed up at it. She had been calling for help for hours and her voice was hoarse.
The others watched her with varying levels of apathy and annoyance.
Snapper clashed his metal jaws together. They gleamed in the semi-darkness. “That is really getting on my nerves,” he declared.
Normally this statement would have caused a sudden cessation of any activity within his extended vicinity, but this time the others merely shrugged.
“Quit yer mewling,” Dr. Wrench told him.
He was an older man who was never seen without a thick set of work gloves and he was known for his stoic calm. “Someone findin’ us is our only chance.”
The immense construct, R-79, raised his head and grimaced. When he shifted, the intricate webwork of stitching that crossed and recrossed his body creaked softly. “We have no chance,” he rumbled. “Never did.”
Squinaldo, the tall, tattooed man sitting beside the construct, did what few other people on Earth would dare, and smacked the creature on the arm. “Don’t talk like that, paesano. It’s bad luck. Talk about something else.”
The hulking brute pondered this advice. “Oh. Okay.” It searched for a topic and as usual, settled on the most inappropriate one for the moment. “You think maybe human flesh taste like chicken?”
Snapper got a dreamy look in his eyes. “Oh no, it’s more like pork,” he crooned. “Sweet, succulent…” a thin bead of drool ran down his metal jaw.
“You are not helping,” Wrench snapped.
“Hello,” a cheerful voice called from above. “Is someone in there?”
Instantly they were all on their feet, shouting. “Yes! We’re trapped!”
“Yes, I see. Hold on!” With a grinding sound, the top of the trap began to shift to the side, letting in a wan light. All of the prisoners flinched.
“Who’s there?” Wrench called out.
“Why, I am Othar Tryggvassen! Gentleman Adventurer!” Silence greeted this revelation. Othar chuckled. “Now I don’t expect any thanks from lawless, murdering scum like yourselves, but as long as I’m here, the least I can do is rescue you and hope that incarceration has allowed you to reconsider your dissolute ways! Just to keep my hand in, you understand.”
Within the pit, the prisoners stared up at him, paralyzed.
“The Othar Tryggvassen,” Snapper said hoarsely. “Oh, fry me!”
“He broke up the Slaver’s Guild,” Squinaldo muttered.
The giant construct nervously bit his fingers. “He just broke R-78 and R-76.”
“He broke my master’s Doom Ships,” Wrench sighed.
“He broke his word,” Sanaa said firmly.
Everyone paused at this, including Othar. “I assure you, Miss, that Othar Tryggvassen does not break his…” Suddenly Othar gave a start and peered down at the girl. “Good heavens,” he said. “Sanaa? Is that you?”
Squinaldo gaped at Sanaa. “Wait—You know him?”
The pink-haired girl rolled her eyes. “Oh, yes. He’s only my stupid brother, isn’t he?”
“What do you think you’re doing here, young lady?” Othar thundered. “And what have you done to your hair?” He pointed at her dramatically. “You stay right where you are while I get a rope!”
Everyone in the pit stared after him in shock.
“You’re…you’re really his sister?” Wrench asked.
Sanaa shrugged. “Oh, yes.”
“But…your last name? Wilhelm?”
Sanaa looked at him evenly. “And how long do you think I’d’ve lasted in here as a Tryggvassen? The old guy who sent me in here suggested I change it, so I used his.”
Wrench nodded. Many of the prisoners sought anonymity.
R-79 cast a worried look upwards. “I think maybe Mister Othar will not be our friend.”
Snapper clacked his jaws thoughtfully. “Oh, I wouldn’t worry about that.” In an instant, he was behind Sanaa with his arm encircling her throat. “Not if he wants his tasty little sister back in one—”
Sanaa slammed her head back into Snapper’s nose with a soft crunch. Snapper screamed and released her. Sanaa spun and delivered a kick to his jaw that audibly snapped his neck before throwing him into the wall.
The other prisoners stared at the dead man and looked at each other in embarrassment. R-79 summed it up for everyone. “Even I knew that was stupid.”
Wrench nodded matter-of-factly. “Requiescat in pace and all that. Dibs on his boots.”
Squinaldo just stared at Sanaa wide-eyed.
“I said I’m his sister,” she said.
“I can see the resemblance.”
Soon enough, a workman’s ladder thudded down into place and Sanaa scrambled up it. The others followed, then quietly slipped away as the siblings began to argue.
“I left you at home,” Othar said with annoyance.
“Yes you did,” Sanaa replied. “After you said that we would go adventuring!” Othar paused and a vaguely guilty look crossed his face. Sanaa soldiered on. “You promised! I was going to be your spunky girl sidekick!”
“Unthinkable! You’re my sister!”
Sanaa stared at him. “What’s that got to do with it?” A thought crossed her mind. “Oh, ewww! Othar! You’re supposed to be a gentleman adventurer!”
Othar’s face went red. “No, no, no! I mean it’s too dangerous!”
Sanaa stared at him in disbelief. “You want to hear about dangerous? A week after I left home—following you—our ship was attacked by a mechanical narwhal full of pirates!”
She paused, and it was obvious that the memories she was trawling through were not all pleasant ones. “It’s a long story, but I kind of got elected their queen and we wound up running weapons to student revolutionaries in Venice.”
Othar interrupted. “Wait, the ones who tried to overthrow the Chancellor of Ca’ Foscari—”
“—And his semi-invisible hand. Yeah, that was me. Well, after Venice sank, we wound up in the middle
of the Aegean, which is where we discovered that our new ship had one of those Ulysses Engines, and what with all the time-traveling, it would take us thirteen years to go twenty-five kilometers!
“I was just sorting things out with the Spark who sold it to us, when Wulfenbach troops showed up. Everything got pinned on me, which got me sent here to Castle Heterodyne!”
She poked Othar in the chest. “So, you tell me. How can traveling with you be any more dangerous than that?”
Othar stared at her and then sighed deeply. “When can you start?”
Sanaa squealed and threw her arms around him. “Yay! You’re the best!”
Embarrassed, Othar looked around. Aside from the two of them, the hallway was empty. Sanaa straightened up. “So, how are we gonna get out of here?”
Othar scratched his head. “Well…actually, we can’t just yet.”
“Why not? You’re the one who’s always coming up with the sparky plans.”
“True enough. But I am here to rescue the Baron’s son.”
Sanaa looked interested. “Whoa! So it’s true? Old Klaus really does have a son?” She paused. “Wait—and he’s in here? Jeez, what did he do?”
Othar raised his eyebrows. “I have a list, if you’re interested.”
Sanaa stopped. “Wait—and you know him? You’re here to get him out?”
Othar sighed. “Yes.”
A light dawned in Sanaa’s eyes. “Oooh, I get it.” She put a supportive hand on Othar’s sleeve. “He’s your boyfriend, right?”
“WHAT!”
Sanaa squeezed his arm. “Othar, please. It’s totally okay. I’ve been hanging around with pirates. Anyway, there’s nothing wrong with—”
“Gilgamesh Wulfenbach is a foul villain!”
“Got it bad, do you?”
Othar rolled his eyes. “He is not even a friend, let alone—”
Sanaa interrupted, “Oh yeah? Then why did you leave Grimstaad to avoid Helga Gootergund?”96
Othar flinched. “Helga? She vowed to brain me with a marlinspike if she ever saw me again!”
Sanaa shook her finger. “Mom says that just means you should have tried harder! Helga is smart, rich, and beautiful! Plus she can kill a frosted cave bear with her bare hands!”