by Gin Hollan
In the sudden silent dark, Arabeth wrapped her arms around her body. Hicks was back in less than five minutes, but the chill Arabeth felt stayed with her as she ran to the carriage. She squished herself into the darkest corner as Hicks took the opposite seat. They were at least a twenty-minute ride from their destination, so she pulled the pictures out again.
The dim light inside the carriage wasn't much better than the back of the photography store. She looked from face to face, trying to memorize them as she went. There was one person in the photo she hadn't expected—they stood in the background, not in the main shot, but were somehow intentionally in frame. Maralise. Her sister.
She turned the picture over, hoping for a note or name. There were no names, but someone had written an address.
"Sam, look." She pointed at Maralise.
He leaned forward, squinting. "Hmm, I think your father needs to see this."
"Right." She'd forgotten his involvement already, or was mentally blocking it. Her father, the mastermind. She shook her head, still trying to assimilate the new information. "Why is it that the more I try to distance myself from my family, the more I'm forced to see them?" Wryly, she smiled.
Clement would have to wait.
// Chapter 27 //
The carriage pulled to a slow stop in front of the Barnes family mansion. Climbing out, Arabeth stopped and stood, confused. Life around the house bustled, with servants coming and going, many carrying bags or boxes. A few had chairs and small tables.
Arabeth watched, looking for a pattern in the chaos. It wasn't the right weather to rotate seasonal furniture or decor.
"It looks like you're expecting a lot of company," Sam said. "They're taking all of that to the guest house."
"Great timing," she said sarcastically, expecting it would be one of the wings of the family from the capital city. But maybe it wasn't…. What if it were more people like her father's last guests?
She followed the servants around, hoping to ask one of them. As she went around the corner, she confirmed the items were being taken to the guest house.
Marble darted off to her right and as Arabeth turned, her breath caught in her throat. Behind the main house, someone had built a stone structure resembling a monastery or one of the castles of old. Around it sat a city of some design. None of it stood taller than her hip but it extended out over nearly half an acre. It was small, as though built to scale, as a model. Right now Marble was running and leaping over buildings as if there were a mouse to chase.
Arabeth shook her head. Her parents had the strangest hobbies. Her mother had one of these built in the lowest level of the main house, but it was a replica of world laid flat.
Staring at the new toy, the memory of her father's most recent guests blended with another memory. Servants had come and gone from the house over the years—some leaving for days, some for hours. Others she didn't know would arrive suddenly and stay long enough to recover from their journey, then leave again.
Her mother said it was the family’s duty to tend to the servants of relatives that were on extended errands. She had excused it as the unseen side of business and finance. Arabeth believed her, but … were they planning something that required a deep knowledge of how to get around that city, as though they were spies? That would be amazing, but unexpected. Her parents stressed home and family, and staying out of all but the fringes of politics. Still, it added up.
"Are you all right?" Sam asked, touching her shoulder.
Her body shuddered as she came out of deep thinking and looked around. "I need to speak with my mother as well, it seems."
Nodding, he followed as she turned.
Inside the house, the chaos continued. As the two of them wove their way upstairs to her father's study, it was quieter, calmer. Arabeth knocked on the door and pushed it open to see if her father was inside.
"Close the door behind you, dear," her father, Eldon, said as he waved her in.
He waited as Arabeth and Marble entered, but startled slightly when Hicks followed her in.
Sam bowed, but kept his expression neutral.
"How can I be of assistance?" Eldon smiled at Arabeth. "What is on your mind?"
"That is a big question. I am discovering a lot of things." She smiled back as she pulled off her coat and dropped to sit in a soft, oversized chair. "Our backyard, for example, has a model that is eerily built to scale. But which city is it? I am guessing it's the Eltesian capital."
Eldon nodded.
Arabeth pulled out the envelope and slid it across his desk but did not let go.
"I, too, have a puzzle," she said. "Someone is building an army in our backyard. Each automaton is equipped with a transmitter set to a frequency that causes violence in humans, predominantly in men. Did you know about this?"
"I did not know the specifics. Where did you find this army?" her father asked.
"There is a large, abandoned hospital to the west, outside the city. They were constructed there, then sent northeast of the city. It looked as though they are gathering to travel along the North Highway. I'm not sure where they are now, but this is a picture of what they're building."
She pulled out the picture of the automatons and showed it to him. "That's what they're building." She pulled out the second picture. "Does anyone in this picture look familiar?"
Eldon pulled the second picture close and looked at each face. "Where did you get this picture?"
"I take it this is significant. I'm working on a way to defeat their signal, but I need to know where they're going."
"Arabeth…." Her father drummed his fingers on the desk. "You don't want to get mixed up in this. There are some very powerful men in this picture. One or two of them could destroy us without blinking."
"That's why I have to stop them. What they're doing is unethical and inhumane. If they are those kind of men, we can't let them—"
Eldon tapped the desk. "You aren't listening. We have to be smart about this." He stood up and walked to the door. Leaning out, he called for Carol, then returned to his seat.
"Do you want to tell me what's going on?"
"That's why I'm bringing your mother in on this. This is more her area of expertise than mine."
Arabeth's mother walked in wearing her usual long blue dress that resembled more of a ball gown than a house dress.
"Yes, Eldon, what do you need?" She stopped and looked quizzically at Arabeth and Hicks.
Marble stood up and circled to Arabeth's far side.
"Come in, dear. Our eldest daughter has information that will be of interest to you." He looked directly at Carol. "To you and your network."
She hesitated a moment, head turned slightly to one side as she considered his words before moving to sit in the oversized chair opposite Arabeth.
Eldon stood up and took the pictures over to Carol. "I think you'll find these very interesting."
"Let's see then." Her tone was mildly dismissive but her eyebrows shot up as soon as she got a good look. "Oh my. It would seem that our worst fears are happening. Where did you find these, daughter?"
"They're part of a puzzle I've been working on. Last week I subdued an automaton that uses radio signals to trigger the violent part of a person's brain. I've been working on a way to interfere with that," Arabeth said.
Her words came slowly as she puzzled out her situation. This wasn't a strange dream. Her parents really were sitting here, taking her seriously and acting like they were part of something bigger as well. Knowing, understanding, and accepting were three separate stages.
"What is going on here?" Arabeth asked.
Eldon nodded. "I suppose we do owe you something of an explanation."
"You can't," her mother snapped. "She is not a part of this."
Eldon stared at the pictures in Carol's hands until she looked back down at them. A moment later her shoulders slumped.
"Indeed, she may be more a part than even we are," he said. It was what her mother feared. He looked at Arabeth. "Daugh
ter, we've tried to protect you from this, to keep you safely living the myth of security."
"These are vaguarities. Be clear." Arabeth didn't mean to speak quite so abruptly, but this was just more of them interfering with her life.
She glanced at Sam, wondering if he knew the truth behind their words. He looked uncomfortable but said nothing.
"What about Maralise? Does she know?" Arabeth asked.
Carol nodded and leaned forward, holding the photos out for Arabeth to take back.
"With her tendency to eavesdrop or barge into rooms, she figured it out by the time she was fifteen. She is one of my operatives now." She shook her head and stood. "We wanted to save you from it, but you seem magnetically drawn to whatever will cause me the most grief."
Arabeth started to smile. Little snippets of her past started to slide into place, like a wooden slider puzzle. As they did, she felt excitement wash through her veins.
"I understand. You're spies," she said.
Her mother sat a little straighter in her seat and her left cheek twitched slightly. "Most of my ladies are information specialists. Very few are spies. My network of strategically placed ladies works for the peace and prosperity of people like you."
People like her. It felt like a slap, somehow. Immediately Arabeth's excitement twisted and reshaped. This was the same old tripe, she realized. Her mother continued to view her as almost a different species.
"Why?" The word slipped out. It wasn't that she wanted her mother's approval, specifically, but it irked her to be so patently sorted out, excluded.
"You can do better things as a gadgeteer. Your devices are far more valuable to us than passing notes and whispering in shadows," her father said softly.
His soothing turn of phrase did not ease Arabeth's anger, but she wouldn’t let it fester.
"That is not the point," Carol said, her voice tinged with an anger of her own and she glared at Eldon a moment before she spoke again. "I hear you are working on a distanced listening device. That is of great interest to us. Do you have a prototype ready?"
Eldon's eyebrows went up. "You have a what?" He looked at Arabeth, puzzled.
Arabeth startled at that. She hadn't done more than collect the parts, and hadn't told anyone what they were for. How had her mother figured it out? Arabeth looked at Sam. Had she told him? She couldn't remember.
"I…,” she started, sorting her thoughts as she went. “In breaking down the transmitters, I realized they could be scaled down even further and placed in areas as a listening device. Also, matching the transmission frequency of the Maddening Device and using a stronger power source interferes with the broadcast that makes people violent."
"Is this fact? How was it tested?" her father asked. His eyes had narrowed but his expression stayed soft, curious.
Arabeth paused, wondering if she should share names, or be vague herself. Better to start vague and work from there, she decided.
"Mr Rogers – your friend with the radio station - sent a signal out using the frequency I suggested. During the test, no new violence was reported."
"I see," he said, adopting a more thoughtful pose. "You may have resolved our biggest technological hurdle in this struggle. Did you tell anyone? Graham?"
"He told me he'd built the prototype."
Eldon smiled. "Good."
She wondered what that meant.
"Arabeth, please put your listening devices together and bring them here as soon as you can. I would like to test them, and if they work well, put them immediately into the field," Carol said.
A twinge in Arabeth's gut fought the idea, but she nodded. It made sense. She shouldn't be quite so possessive.
"I should have them ready tomorrow afternoon, if all goes well."
She stood up, unsure if this was an acceptable outcome. Certainly, she'd been given more information, but she was still outside her parents’ trust. They did this to keep her safe, because her value as a tinker was worth protecting. That was a double-edged sword, considering where her gadgeteering took her. There was no way they could actually protect her.
Arabeth stopped on the other side of the door and looked at Hicks. "We're going to have a nice long talk, I think." He'd professed his love for her, but was that part of his assignment? Spies were often called on to take extraordinary measures to get their job done. Or so she'd read.
"Wait." She turned back and leaned back in through the door. "Is there a war coming?" she asked.
"It does seem that way, yes. Not next week, I think, but soon. And now I'm thinking it's sooner than we expected," Eldon said.
"Thank you." She appreciated her father’s honesty.
She realized her mother must be too accustomed to keeping secrets because she growled a warning at him, which just made him laugh.
"Also, is Clement Ballantine one of yours?"
Eldon and Carol both faced her directly.
"Why?" They both asked.
"He says he has a project for me and another gadgeteer, but that he needs me to keep it secret. He put guards outside my house."
"Do you feel this project might put you or others in danger?" Carol asked.
"Not his project. It's more a question of why he isn't hiring a more accessible gadgeteer. I’m rarely home, and when I am, I’m already neck deep in my own work.” She paused, hating the doubts that crept into her mind about her great godfather. Still, they were there and needed to be addressed. “I have to wonder how much of this is about Grandfather's lab."
"Keep him out of there, Arabeth," Eldon said. "I'm dead serious about this."
His intensity startled her. She nodded, saying nothing.
Closing the door again, Arabeth sighed. No, she didn't want to be a spy or informant, but gadgeteering alone seemed passive. Then again, it could be pre-emptive. She pulled her coat back on and wrapped it tight.
Let the spies and advisers work out their own plans. Her list was short—catch the guy who’d killed Dawson, even if he did turn out to be a nihilistic madman, get the listening devices to her mother, and keep Clement out of her grandfather's lab.
In a carriage headed home, she looked at Sam. "How do you catch someone who knows all the rules of evasion, like a police officer?"
“Or like you?”
“Hmm, well, I don’t think like an officer. You all are trained to think a certain way.”
“Ah, I see what you’re saying now.” She still needed to catch the guys who attacked Bernie.
// Chapter 28 //
Arabeth stood outside the cab, thinking. Bringing justice to the guys responsible for Bernie's beating was a moral imperative.
Sam cleared his throat, standing beside her. "What's on your mind?"
"To catch a cop, you have to think like one, right? When we interrogated the man who attacked me, did you report it to your superior?"
He shook his head. "Not yet. We were gathering information, and he lived."
"Can you find out who the new guys are and where they live?"
"We're going to search their homes? Good idea, but dangerous. Let me handle this. You concentrate on what you do best—your devices. I'll see what I can find out about the new guys."
She stopped and looked at him. Suddenly, she laughed. Not loud. There was no point in seeming crazy. This was going to be solved by her listening devices. She'd been working on the solution to the Dawson case the whole time.
"Ah, fate. You are a funny one," she said, sighing as she turned back to her house.
"Care to explain what just went through your head?" Hicks asked.
"You'll see. It's brilliant. You go to the station and I'll make the devices. It's a perfect plan." She chuckled. "I feel stupid for not thinking of it sooner."
Sam narrowed his eyes, watching her. "You're sure you don't need sleep or something? You seem a little … unbalanced."
Arabeth chuckled again then pushed his shoulder. "You, go. I have work to do, but come back once you have their address. I have a plan."
She nee
ded to produce a large quantity of the miniature transmitters, quickly. That would take time, but the five she had parts for now would be a good start. She promised herself that once this was all over, she'd invest in smaller tools so she could make them herself. As she turned to go, she spotted two men standing outside her house. One of them looked like the guy they’d evaded earlier. Guards? Was this Clement’s idea, because of the project he wanted her on. Well, they had to go. They wouldn’t listen to her, so it would have to wait until Clement’s next visit.
Arabeth flipped her hood back and walked over, nodding at the guards as they scowled in her general direction. The door handle turned easily … meaning it was unlocked. She stopped herself from opening the door, wondering who today's uninvited guest might be. With guards outside, there were very few people who could get in. Still, stopping to chat would slow her down. The back door would be better. That’s where Bernie would have dropped the parts she’d ordered anyway.
The lab door closed behind her and she waited for the familiar clunk of the lock system. Sam still had a key, although she wondered why she'd given him one at times. You had to trust someone, right?
Arabeth emptied each of the three small bags onto her work table and organized them by which part of the assembly process they would be needed in. The devices practically snapped together, none of them being more than the size of a large coin. It still amazed her when so many specific bits came together easily. Next, she had to make sure they each transmitted and test their range. They'd be useless if you couldn't hear through a wall or had to be within ten feet to do so. Snickering, she decided the perfect location.
She picked her boots up and left through the kitchen exit, turning left toward the outside door. There, she pulled her boots up and quickly thought of an excuse for going out again.
"I need something from the meat shop. Marble is running out of her chicken jerky." She tried to seem casual as she opened the metal mailbox at the side of her door, setting one of the devices inside. "If someone drops me a letter, let me know, okay?" She tried to sound disappointed.