by Clay Moore
One of the newest acquisitions that Rowena made was a complete set of sewer maps and all the other plans of Washington DC. She also asked for all the maps that the geological survey has produced. That one thing brought in a lot more users at the library.
Another reason to use the library was that there are more tables of sufficient size. William unfolded the map and then, with the finger pointed to with the delivery was made.
“I think that we need to have two forces. You’ll have the communicator so we should be able to talk to each other if needed. One group goes up here.”
William pointed to a manhole cover that was above the stream of the sewer.
“So one team is here. A second team goes through this manhole.”
Thomas indicated the next manhole downstream of the delivery point.
“Thomas, you are starting to understand tactics better. I propose that team one be us three. I know our combat capabilities. We all are pretty good shots. And I think we’ve all been under fire pretty well. The second team is a problem. I don’t know them very well.”
“We need an agent who is a gadgeteer other than me for the second team. That would be Philip,” Thomas said.
William took out his notebook. He sat down at the table and wrote out the name of the agent.
“Gladys, who would you recommend of the women?”
“I would put forward Emily. She was that woman that was with me during the battle. She was right there doing the same thing I was.”
“Good, I thought she was very good, almost your equal.”
“Have you thought about using Mort?”
“Why, Gladys?”
“I love the idea of using servants as protection for people. The problem is that these people are agents as well. Most are thinking that being servants is the only thing that they are capable of doing.”
“Sort of blooding them?”
William considered for a moment. The second team was not going to be small. He was thinking of six or seven, and they would take a position and hold it. The thing that made him think about this was that every single one of those servants passed his gun course. Mort would make the perfect leader of that second group.
“I wish I remembered what the scores were for some of the other servants.”
“You forgot the Ledger that you kept,” said Rowena.
“Yeah, I forgot about that, but I haven’t seen in a long time.”
“That’s because you forgot and your fiancé is the librarian. She keeps all the information about this organization as well as books from outside. Logs and information that is written and retained or kept inside of my locked filing cabinets.”
William was so exuberant that he went to his fiancé, grabbed her by the waist, picked her up, and swung her around. When he set her down, she had a comment.
“At least I will be able to tell everyone that I literally was swept off my feet.”
She used her keys and opened up the filing cabinet. She took out the ledger book that William used to keep records of everybody passing through his gymnasium. William took the ledger book and sat down with it.
The other two special agents were behind him, looking over his shoulder and reading the ledger entries.
Gladys was surprised that he wrote everything in ink. When he wrote notes in his notebook, he often used a pencil. He said that the army practically ran on pencil lead. When writing for posterity, that was when they produced ink.
Rowena was not interested in anything other than the Secret Service. She was bound and determined everything the service did would be remembered. And you did that by preserving the written paper.
From the ledger, they were able to produce the other four members of the team. William asked Rowena for a sheet of paper and a pen and ink. She went back to her desk and produced a sheet of paper. William took paper pen and ink. He wrote out a short plan with the list of people to be used. Then he signed it. Thomas and Gladys also wanted to sign it.
Gladys said, ”William, you have such great hand writing. That was something that was being taught was penmanship. The main reason was that penmanship might actually cause a problem in understanding of orders. That’s why some officers that have the wherewithal bring with them a camp desk.”
William blew on the surface of the Page to encourage drying. Then he took the paper up to the Director. The Director never once overruled one of their plans. They may be secret service agents, but their real boss was the President of the United States. The Director signed the order and handed it back to me.
“Bring me the skin of that automata.”
William nodded and went downstairs.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Down into the Sewers
*****
ON THE WAY down to the Library, William passed by Mortimer. William stopped long enough to tell Mortimer that he had to come to the Library for an assignment. Then William handed him his notebook with the names of other servants who were secret service agents.
They all assembled in the Library with William, Thomas, and Gladys. They had the map of Washington DC that also indicated the manhole covers.
“I want to thank you all for coming,” said William. “I know that some of you are not used to being put on assignment. You are all supposed to be servants, but I know that you are special agents. I want to treat you like that. So from time to time, I’m going to call on you to do some agent work. Eventually, you will be assigned to somebody that you have to protect. Right now, you are just special agents that I can use.
“it’s best to give you a little background. We are dealing with one of the most advanced automaton ever. This device has the ability to develop original thought. That makes her dangerous. She can build an army of automaton that will take her orders. These automata have no emotions. They don’t know fear. They retreated the last time because the advanced automaton lost heart and ordered them away.”
“Why didn’t you pursue them,” Cliff asked?
“We were in no condition to chase after them. We thought it best to stay behind the barricades and lick our wounds.
“They also retreated to lick their wounds. We now know where they are. They are in the sewers just a few hundred yards from where they had established their first workshop.”
“Remember that the automaton have no feelings for each other. The only one that has these feelings, this Evangeline. It is her death that we must seek. It is she that makes these individual toys an army,” Thomas said.
“Thomas has it correctly. Evangeline is the one that must be destroyed. You must pump as many bullets as you can into her. If they suddenly stopped working together then we have destroy edtheir brain. Evangeline is the queen bee of the automaton hive.”
Thomas took out his communicator. He held it up for everyone to see. “I assume that everyone has one of these communication Devices. If you don’t have one, I need you to say something now.”
Thomas looked everyone over. No one was looking down. They all had their devices, and that pleased Thomas.
“We don’t think that they operate on the same frequency that we do. We could try to find I frequency that they use, but we would get no intelligible use from it. That’s because they are speaking in the language that their father invented to teach them how to do things. This is the dot code.”
“Evangeline,” spoke William, “does not speak to her automaton in English. She uses the dot code. It is faster for them to communicate this way than it is to translate dot code into English and back again. I must emphasize that if you run into Evangeline put as many bullets into her as you can. She is too complex a machine to expect a single bullet to do her in. Am I clear on this?”
Everyone nodded their heads, even Thomas and Gladys. Evangeline was the queen bee. If they destroyed her, the cohesive nature of the automaton would go away.
The servants who were actually secret service agents sobered. They were finally getting their chance to make a difference and what a difference.
“Since w
e know where they are,” said William, “we will flank them. You ladies and gentlemen are going to be the anvil. Thomas, Gladys, and I are going to be the hammer. We hope to drive them into you, which is why you have to have a lot of ammunition. We have no idea how fast they can reconstruct their army.
“If she was human, I would probably say that she was in a state of shock. Probably for three or four days there was no coordination. She did not understand war; she did not understand battle. Having experienced both and being forced to retreat she had to figure it out. I think it took this long for her to recover from the shock of battle.”
Thomas said: “She must be feeling something akin to anger. She will want retribution. So the remaining elements of her automaton would be pressed to construct a new army. Some of the parts they can forge themselves. Some of the parts they have to purchase. She has the entire treasury of her father, the toymaker. If that is not enough, she has the ability of some of her automaton to be able to enter houses and do second-story work.”
“Because she is focused on her retribution, she will not think of what is attacking her, especially with such a small force. She will say that we are trying to kill her automaton. She will not understand that we are actually trying to eliminate her.”
William looked at them, gravely. There might be some of them would not be back at the end of this mission. He wanted them to understand that this was not a lark, and there was a potential for death.
“We are going to go at three in this afternoon,” said William. “I want you to get back to your wives and husbands. Make love to them and return back here at two. If you have your own horse or buggy, go ahead and use that. Carry your badges. Wear your holster. Have plenty of filled magazines. Don’t forget your communicators. Now get out of here. I want to kiss the librarian.”
William watched everybody, including Thomas and Gladys, leave; William turned to Rowena with a smile on his face. She returned his smile. The last few days have been so hectic that they had no time for each other. At this moment of peace stolen from the strife, they found solace in each other’s arms.
It was not to last because Johnny also came to the library. He invaded their moment. William included Johnny in the embrace. This was how the family was going to operate when Rowena and William married.
Johnny was starting to understand when he could butt into an embrace between William and his mother. In public, it was safe for him to horn in on the embrace. When it was in a private area, he would not be very welcome.
“I don’t think that the automata are going to give up. I think she knows that if she gives up that will be the end of her kind. If she has any combat power at all, we can expect them all to be available at this moment. We are going to take cover and we are going to shoot them all. If we need ammunition we will call for it. I will come home to both of you. I will prevail and I will come home.”
“How can you be so sure of that,” Rowena asked?
“Because I know that you are waiting for me, Rowena.”
“Golly, are you guys going to get mushy?”
William shoved Johnny’s shoulder. ”It’s fun for me to get mushy with your mother. So, I intend to get mushy with her whenever I can.”
Johnny put on his best hangdog look as he walked away. Only when he had aged 10 years would he even understand what his mother and William had.
“If we do this today and it works, I will be able to ride the airship and pick your stepmother up. I think she will want me to dress the way that you’ve described to me, so I will wear my holster and gun.”
“You will be so outre. She will absolutely fall in love with you as her son-in-law.”
“Your little sister’s name is Maggie?”
“How can you talk about the wedding at a time like this?”
“I have the plan done for the assault. Talking about the Wedding with you helps me take my mind off of it for just an hour.”
“Do you know, I would love to have a daughter. I would love for it to be your daughter.”
“A daughter…” William’s voice trailed off as he contemplated that image.
“I believe I have caught your tongue, Mr. Hazard.”
“I’ll try to be an understanding father. However I am not gonna be all that understanding about boys trying to get into her room without me knowing it.”
“What are you doing in our secret garden?”
“It wouldn’t be much of a secret if I told you.”
“What are you doing?”
“I’m building Johnny a playground. It will have a fort, it will have swings, and it will have a slide. It’s done. It’s kind of my Wedding present to Johnny.”
“To use one of Johnny’s favorite phrases, he will go over the moon.”
“The next door neighbor has a daughter, Right around Johnny’s age. Her name is Miranda.”
“Who is this little girl?”
“it’s a friend that he made. I have no idea whether or not this is going to end up with him marrying her. I think it’s a little early for that, don’t you?”
Rowena looked at him. In about three weeks, she was going to be Mrs. Hazard. Then he would have the right to be a part of the rearing of Johnny. She even saw the special paperwork that he had gotten all filled out and awaiting Johnny’s signature and her own. These are the adoption papers that would make Johnny just as much his as hers.
“I guess I’ve been working long hours in the library.”
This conflict with the automaton had forced her to keep the library open longer. Her hours were also increased, and she could not pay as much attention to Johnny as she was used to. She was glad that William picked up the slack. There are things that she saw Johnny do for the first time that she would never get a chance to see. This undeveloped hussy seemed to be a threat directed at her special bond with her son. Perhaps William was correct, and she was reading something into the situation that was not happening.
“What is this girl like?”
“At first, I thought she was looking for someone that she could dominate. The first couple of times she met him, she realizes Johnny was a dynamo. No single person could dominate him. Then I realized that she might like him. They have not yet begun the maturation process that drives boys to become men and girls to become women. When she comes to play with Johnny, she no longer wears a pinafore and a dress. She’s taken to actually wearing jodhpurs and a fitting shirt and boots.
“the two of them have seen the new playground that I created under a tarp. I think she tried to get him to look under the tarp for her. He was having nothing of it. He really wanted to be surprised for real. I think he guessed that this is his wedding gift from me.”
“And my wedding gift?”
“I am going to get your mother and your little sister. They will be here for a protracted amount of time.”
“Oh, I love you, William Hazard.”
“We’re not going to have much of a honeymoon. I’ve taken a suite at the Washington Biltmore. Our evenings are going to be watching plays and our late evenings we’re going to have a carnal feast.”
“Will we actually go on a honeymoon, a real honeymoon.”
“Yes. It does depend on my schedule, your schedule, and little April’s schedule should she arrive.”
“She will arrive in due time. You need to deal with that bitch, first.”
“Technically she is not a bitch because she is not female. Evangeline is a mechanical. What little bit of femaleness she has comes from observation and what her mother put into her. However, I agree with your sentiment we are going to put her down. We have to.”
William went to the Central table of the parlor; There was an ammunition crate consisting of field magazines for their pistol. He put the magazines on the belt loops of his holster. He was able to bring 12 of the magazines on his belt. That was 240 bullets.
He stood in the parlor, waiting for his people. While he waited, he wound up the clockwork, which created electrical power for the gun to operate. Just as he
was completing the winding procedure, Thomas and Gladys appeared. They went to the ammunition crate. They also filled up their belts with magazines.
Of the servants who were Secret Service special agents, Mortimer was the first one to arrive. He also loaded up with ammunition. Person by person, the rest the team arrived and help themselves to the magazines in the ammunition crate. Finally, they were ready. A brougham and a buggy were made available. Mortimer and his crew took those. William, Thomas, and Gladys walked out to where the clockwork motorbikes were resting. There was one new clockwork motorbike. Its color was red. Thomas is not concerned about her getting the bike because she actually rode his to get familiar with it. Now she had her own. She belonged in this trio of agents.
They mounted up and drove off.
The three Partners stopped at their manhole cover. William got down on his hands and feet and put his ear to the manhole cover. He wanted to know if they were going to be coming out on top of the automaton. That would require them to do a lot of shooting up front. William stood up.
“It looks like we’re not gonna be coming down on top of the automata. Remember we are looking to destroy Evangeline. I really believe that once she’s dead the other automata will have no idea what to do. That means if you see her you are too hit her as many times as possible. Biologic things are easy to kill relative to an actual automata. She dies if she takes too much damage.”
“let me get the tool,” Thomas said.
Thomas walked to his clockwork motorbike. He unstrapped a 3-foot piece of metal with a curled tip from his steel steed.
William indicated that Thomas should use it to remove the manhole cover.
Thomas inserted the tool into the hole near the edge of the manhole cover. He turned the tool a quarter turn. Then Thomas lifted the manhole cover off the manhole itself. He felt great that he could move the manhole cover by himself.
William took out his clockwork flashlight. He also turned the key on that to tension the clockwork again. He shot the light down into the darkness of the sewer.