Blood Ties

by Quincy J. Allen

“Qi sent me down to get the wagon in place so we can get it into the alley and hooked up to Lumpy.” Cole cocked his head to the side. “I can come back,” he added, and Jake heard a trace of concern in Cole’s voice.

  Lady Dănești smiled almost mischievously and stepped away. She turned to Cole. “Not at all,” she said. “I have some things I must discuss with Chung before you leave, and its best that you leave as quickly as possible.”

  “Can’t argue with that,” Cole said. Jake didn’t miss the double meaning.

  The Lady nodded to Cole and then turned back to Jake. “Goodbye, Jake,” she said and kissed him one last time. The ache that sprang up in his heart stung more than it should have. She stepped past him and disappeared up the stairs. Cole walked up to the back of the wagon and stared at the large crate. “That’s some package,” he grumbled.

  “Yeah, the Lady and I were just talking about that.”

  “Near as I could tell, you weren’t doing any talking at all.”

  “You don’t approve.”

  Cole let the statement hang in the air for a few seconds as he eyed Jake. “Ain’t for me to approve or disapprove, Jake. You know that. You’re a grown man, and I ain’t your papa. Just be careful with that woman. There’s something real different about her.”

  “Can’t argue with you there,” Jake said, smiling as he remembered kissing her. After a few moments, his smile faded and he eyed Cole. A question floated up, but he wasn’t sure if he should ask it.

  Cole was too good a card player to miss something like that. “What’s on your mind, Jake?”

  Jake took a deep breath. “Well … there’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you for a while now.” He scratched the back of his neck, searching for an easy way to ask it.

  “Just spit it out,” Cole said.

  “I’ve been wondering why you’ve stuck it out all these months, riding with me, facing down all manner of roughneck and monster and whatnot. We’ve been shot at, beat up … hell, you nearly got killed on account of this trouble—trouble that ain’t got much to do with you when it comes right down to it. I consider you my best friend, and I know the money’s good … but you coulda—hell, shoulda—skipped out months ago just to keep your hide in one piece. Any sane person would have cut out on me long before now.”

  Cole smiled and shook his head. “You really don’t know, do you?”

  “I wouldn’t be asking if I did.”

  “Well, I reckon there’s two reasons. The first one’s easy to explain. When we’ve helped decent folks or gunned down bad ones, did you ever give one thought to what color they were or where they came from?”

  “Hell, no. It’s just the difference of how you treat with the good and bad in people.”

  “Exactly, and that’s answer enough to your question. Men like you are hard to come by these days, Jake. Seems everyone wants to look down on other folks for one reason or another. And you don’t look down on anyone except men who make life difficult for innocent people.”

  “I guess I see what you’re sayin’.” Jake hadn’t really thought about it that way. “You said there were two reasons. What’s the other?”

  “Well, that’s a bit more complicated.” Cole stared into Jake’s eyes. “You and I, we’ve spilled a fair amount of blood. And we’ve bled some of it, too. I trust you like I do family, Jake. You and I, we’re connected. I’d die to save you, and I know without a doubt that you’d do the same for me. It’s blood ties that keep us together.” He clapped Jake on the shoulder.

  Jake nodded, and a warm feeling of kinship, one he hadn’t felt since he was a boy, filled him to overflowing. “I guess you’re right,” he said.

  Cole turned and stepped up to the wagon. “C’mon, amigo, let’s get this thing outta here.”

  “You got it. You just grab the harness and steer, okay?” Jake said, nodding towards the front. “I’ll do the pushing.” Cole did as instructed as Jake got behind the wagon. “Ready?” He asked.

  “Go ahead.”

  Jake placed his metal hand on the back of the wagon and pushed, putting his clockwork arm and legs into it. The wagon moved easily, but Jake could feel the weight of the Lady’s box. He couldn’t help but wonder if there wasn’t a fair amount of gold inside. He moved the wagon into place, and Cole stepped up to a small control panel set on top of a brass pole attached to the floor. He hit one of two buttons, and they both heard the sound of steam pressure and the rolling of giant gears. The platform rose slowly, and the steel doors above lifted aside, exposing the darkness of night above. The smell of the ocean filled the air once again, and Jake saw that thick fog filled the streets of San Francisco.

  A large, rolling metal door stood behind those, and Jake assumed that Qi could get her diggers out both the front and back. As the platform clanged into place, they both saw Chung’s grandson come around the corner with Lumpy in tow.

  “You go back inside,” the boy said. “Get your things. I harness him in.”

  “You sure you’ll be all right out here alone,” Cole asked.

  The boy smiled. “Not alone.” He looked to the left and right. Six figures dressed head to toe in black rather than red, each with Chung’s dragon embroidered on the front, stepped out of the fog. Neither Jake nor Cole had heard them make a sound.

  “Fair enough,” Cole admitted, nodding to the men who quickly disappeared back into the fog. The boy smiled again and moved Lumpy around into the harness.

  Jake and Cole moved to the back door of Qi’s Emporium and stepped inside, making their way down a wide hallway and out into the main shop. They spotted Skeeter and Qi working on a digger. The large scoops on each arm had been replaced with smaller, metal cylinders about four feet long and nearly a foot in diameter. The cylinders encased chain-driven Gatling guns, and their ends almost touched the floor. Skeeter and Qi were bolting a thick metal cover onto the lower cockpit. The heavy plate, made of a dark metal that looked almost black, dangled from a chain attached to a railing system along the ceiling. A similar plate already covered the upper cockpit. There appeared to be a small, rectangular lens at the top of the plate set into a metal box. Jake surmised it would allow the driver to see from inside the cockpit without being exposed to gunfire.

  “Y’all need a hand?” Jake asked. Skeeter and Qi turned, both of them wearing the complex goggles tinkers were known for, and shook their heads.

  “Go on up and get your gear,” Qi suggested. “We’ll be done with this in a few minutes.”

  Jake nodded, and both men headed upstairs to collect their belongings. They were both back downstairs in minutes. Jake had taken the Thumper from Cole, and Cole now had one of the chainguns slung under his arm. They’d managed to find two more of Szilágyi’s weapons, leaving those with Qi and Chung, but Cole transferred the remaining ammunition into the one he carried. The things held seventy-five rounds of rifle ammunition.

  They also now understood why the guns had the heavy shoulder straps. Cole, with Skeeter’s help, had figured out that the big cylinders around the gun barrels were actually water tanks and the electric motors attached to the stock did two things: they operated an internal mechanism that cycled rounds out of the ammo drum as well as powering a small water pump that circulated water through the cylinders around the barrels, keeping them cool. Skeeter had been very impressed with the design but clucked about how she could make it better.

  Jake and Cole cleared the stairs just as the ladies, smiling and laughing together, stepped down from the digger. The digger now looked more like one of the assault units Jake had seen in the war than it did mining equipment. The ones in the war had been much bigger and far more clunky than Qi’s design, but the principle was the same.

  “You boys all set?” Qi asked as she pulled off her goggles and blew a strand of hair out of her face. Skeeter’s smile disappeared when she saw Jake, and she turned her eyes to the ground. She obviously still felt guilty about the position she’d put him in.

  “We’re good to go,” Jake said. “Sk
eeter, you got your gear?”

  “Yes, sir,” she said quietly, still not looking at him. She stepped behind one of the benches and reappeared, rolling her suitcase. Her long coat was draped over it, and Jake could tell from the lumps inside that she’d already loaded it up with her gadgets.

  “Qi, Cole, think you two could move that machine out back while Skeeter and I have a little talk?” Jake said quietly. Skeeter got a worried look in her eyes. Jake had deliberately avoided being around the girl to let her stew about stowing away on the Jezebel, and it was time to finally have a come-to-Jesus meeting.

  “Sure, Jake,” Cole said and glanced at Skeeter. Qi looked Skeeter’s way as well, and when Skeeter looked at Qi, Jake saw the woman give Skeeter an encouraging nod.

  “Qi, can we use your office?”

  “Go ahead,” she said and turned towards the machine. Cole stepped up with her and helped her climb into the cockpit.

  “Hey, Cole,” Jake called, “can you see if there’s a way to set up a little pillbox in the back of that wagon about yay-big?” Jake asked, casting a quick glance at Skeeter.

  Cole gave Jake a knowing nod. “You got it.”

  Turning to the machine, Cole watched Qi clamber over the armored cockpit plating that leaned out on thick pistons and disappear behind it.

  Jake motioned towards the office door and waited for Skeeter to step up to it. She opened it and moved inside, hitting a switch on the wall as she went in. Qi’s office was cluttered with papers and pipe and gears and a few dozen gizmos, doodads, and whatchamahoozits that Jake couldn’t begin to recognize. A large desk occupied the middle of the room and faced out on a large bay window still covered by a metal, rolling door. They heard the digger’s engine cough to life, grumbling and rumbling.

  “Have a seat,” Jake said sternly. “You and I are gonna have a little talk, young lady.”

  “Yes, sir,” she said meekly as she sat in the chair and swiveled around to face him.

  They heard a heavy metal clanking outside as the machine turned and headed out the other side of the shop through a large door that led to Qi’s warehouse.

  Jake leaned back against an overflowing bookcase, resting his hand on his pistol grips. “Before I say anything, I want you to promise me you won’t say a word until I say I’m finished. Can you do that?” For an instant she gave him a look that bordered on defiant. They both knew it was as hard for Skeeter to keep her mouth shut as it was for Lumpy to walk quietly. Jake turned up the stern in his voice and said, “Promise.”

  Skeeter took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I promise,” she said seriously. Jake checked her fingers to make sure they weren’t crossed.

  “You shouldn’t have stowed away on the Jezebel,” Jake began. He saw her take a quick breath to blurt something out, and he waited patiently. She slowly regained control and settled back in her chair. He nodded, keeping his face stern but smiling inside. “I told you not to come, and now I gotta worry about keeping you safe, along with Qi and Cole and the Lady’s property … and we have a whole mess of people out there who are ready to burn each and every one of us down the moment we peek our heads up. You understand that now, right?”

  She nodded, remembering not to say anything.

  Jake took his hat off and settled it on a stack of papers next to him. “Skeeter, the reason you shouldn’t have come was because I asked you not to.” He hesitated and then stared into her eyes. “But the fact of the matter is that I probably shouldn’t have told you to stay behind.” Her mouth dropped open, and she looked at him, dumbfounded. “Hearing old Chung talk about Qi got me to thinking about you. You were on your own long before you ever met me, and you’ve got more brains, guile, and guts than most men I run into. And the truth is you’re old enough to be on your own, hell, even get married if you wanted.” At the mention of marriage she gave him a disgusted look. “I guess what I’m trying to say is that from now on, I ain’t gonna be telling you what you can and can’t do when it comes to stuff like this.” Her face brightened. He eyed her with a dangerous look. “But there’s a price.”

  Her smile disappeared in a flash, and she was wary, maybe even a little afraid. “Price?” she asked.

  “That’s right,” Jake nodded. “In all the times you’ve seen me and Cole work together when the heat was on, have you ever seen either one of us not do something the other ordered? And I mean ever.”

  She thought about it, and Jake knew for certain that she remembered everything she saw. Skeeter’s memory was perfect, if not better. “No, sir,” she replied, a sort of awareness growing in her eyes.

  “Why do you think that is?”

  Without a moment’s pause she said, “’Cause you got each other’s backs.”

  “That’s right,” Jake said somberly, nodding his head. “Cole and me know that no matter what, when we say duck, the other is gonna do so without asking why.”

  “I think I understand,” she said slowly.

  “It’s the third rule of this business, and you can’t get it wrong, Skeeter.” Jake put his hat back on and looked deep into her eyes. “There ain’t no second chances, no I’m sorry’s, no I didn’t mean to’s. You mess this up, even once, and somebody gets dead. You’ve seen me and Cole tear into some pretty unsavory sorts, and so far we’ve come out on top. But it might not always work out that way. In this line of work good people get killed … like Chung’s men … and it happens more often than I care to think about. The next time it could be you or me or Cole or someone like Qi or Chung. I’m pretty sure you don’t want that, do ya?”

  “No, sir,” she replied quietly.

  “You’ll see,” he continued, “when you’re standing over a dead body of someone you care about and they have a hole in ’em because you didn’t do what you were supposed to, that’s a world of hurt you don’t want because it never goes away. I’ve been there. It kills a little part of you inside that you can never get back.”

  “I promise, Jake. I’ll do exactly what you say, when you say to do it. So help me God.” Jake could tell she meant it, and he’d never seen her as serious before. “What about the first two rules?” she asked, solemnly.

  “We’ll get there, kiddo,” he replied. He realized that he’d just taken on an even greater responsibility, and it occurred to him that the lessons ahead for the young woman were likely to be hard ones. He felt his eyes welling up, his pride for her swelling—but it was combined with fear. He stood away from the bookcase and held out his arms. “All right, now gimme a hug so we can get on with this fiasco.” She leapt out of the chair and crashed into him, wrapping her arms around him. He hugged her back, shaking his head to wipe away the tears that had formed.

  “Thank you, Jake!” she whispered. “I won’t let you down.”

  “All right, all right,” he said, disengaging from her. “I know you won’t. Now get on out there, and let’s get loaded up.” Jake pulled out his pocket watch as she walked out into the shop. It was 4:30 a.m., and the sun would be up soon, burning off the fog.

  All they had to do was make it through the worst parts of San Francisco, including the warehouse district. And do it without getting killed, Jake thought.

  After that it would be easy, he told himself.

  Chapter Twenty-four – The Gauntlet

  “When it was just me, I never worried about getting killed. It was always the people around me that I worried about.”

  ~ Jake Lasater

  Fog swirled around them, and the grumbling chatter of Qi’s digger filled the dark morning air. Jake inspected the pillbox Cole and Qi had hastily set up in the back of the wagon, wedged in between the sidewall and the Lady’s box. Near the front of the wagon, four thick plates of the same dark metal that covered the cockpits of Qi’s machine had been clamped into place, forming a small box big enough for Skeeter to crouch in with her suitcase.

  Jake cast a glance over to Cole. “You got our down payment?” he asked.

  Cole nodded and patted one of his saddlebags. “Right he
re. The Lady paid us before she disappeared.”

  Jake nodded and looked down at Skeeter. He lifted her up into the back of the wagon and handed up her suitcase. “Remember what I said, Skeeter. When I say jump, you jump. And duck means duck.”

  “You got it, Jake,” she said, smiling, and she gave him a salute that made him proud. He gave her a wink. “Now get settled in there. Keep down, and be ready to toss some of them poppers when I say so.” She nodded, hefted her suitcase over the rear plate, and crouched down.

  Jake turned and found Qi standing there. She stared up into his eyes and looked like she needed a kiss, so he obliged.

  She pulled back slightly and looked at him with a faint smile. “There’s something I have to tell you,” she whispered into his ear. “You don’t need my permission.”

  “What?” Jake said, doing his best to pretend he didn’t understand.

  “Lady Dănești. You don’t need my permission.” Jake felt his cheeks warm, and Qi pinched one of them, her eyes laughing at him. “You’re a good man, Jake Lasater. And maybe it’s time you let go of that sadness you’ve been holding on to.”

  “What?” he asked, this time completely bewildered.

  She kissed him warmly, the passion they normally shared replaced with loving tenderness, and hugged him tight. She let out a little laugh, and then walked around the wagon to Lumpy. Jake looked around the wagon and saw her mumbling something quietly as her hand rested on the bull’s neck. Seconds later a soft flash of green light enshrouded Lumpy with the same green glow Qi had when the assassins had nailed her with the chaingun.

  “Insurance,” she said to Jake with a wink and walked over to the modified digger.

  “That’s a handy little trick,” Jake observed. “Can you do us all up like that?”

  “No, I can’t manage another one for a few hours at best,” she replied sadly, “but I do have a few other tricks up my sleeve.”

  “The Lady taught you quite a bit.” he said.

  “More than I could hope for. She opened a whole new world for me,” she said simply as she turned away.