by Steven Bohls
He did so, and she used a carabiner to clip the chain links securely. She let go of Jed’s shirt. He fell a few inches, but the chain snapped taut and held the two together in the air.
One of the dread swung a pipe at his ankle. Jed yelped and the woman lifted them higher. Shadows of dread flickered through the metal below. “What’s going on?” Jed asked. “Why are they trying to kill me?”
“That’s classified.”
“Fine. Then where are you taking me? And don’t tell me that’s classified, too.”
“That’s classified, too.”
“I’m not blindfolded. It’s not like you’re going to be able to hide the answer for long.”
She glanced down, assessing him as if wondering whether or not she should put a blindfold on him. “Stop talking already,” she said.
The dread below piled on top of one another trying to reach them. “It doesn’t look like they’re giving up,” he said.
“Astounding observation. Apparently, you’re just as brilliant as he said you’d be.”
“Who?” Jed waited for an answer, but she ignored him. “That who said I’d be?” he repeated.
She glanced down and her violet eye glinted in the dim light. “Let’s play a little game while we fly for our lives, shall we? Here’s how it goes: You ask me a question, and I say ‘classified.’ Do the rules make sense? Or should I explain them again?” When he didn’t respond, she nodded.
Her wings whined under the strain of his weight and fluttered faster to compensate. Jed and the woman flew above the forest away from the horde. At the edge of the forest, the junk dropped off over a sharp edge into nothingness.
“Is that…is that a cliff?”
There was no response, of course.
They reached the cutoff, and only then could Jed see the other side of the chasm in the distance. As they crossed over the gorge, the wings slowed, and they plunged into the darkness of the ravine.
“Are we supposed to be falling?” Jed asked.
“Maybe you could try not talking until we land,” she said through a strained voice.
“By ‘land,’ you don’t by chance happen to mean ‘crash at the bottom of this gulch,’ do you?”
“Would you just shut up already?” Her voice was as tight as the tension in her face.
Behind them, the dread had piled near the ridge of the cliff. They shouted down at them, hurling pipes and cans in his direction. Some slipped and fell into the darkness. Bits of metal burst into pieces as dread hit the bottom.
Jed feared the woman’s wings would fizzle out completely. As they slowly fell, Jed made out movement below them.
Liquid. Black and shiny.
Oil.
A great river of oil snaked along the canyon walls.
“We’re almost there,” the woman said. Smoke slithered up behind the gears in her back, leaving a white trail of overheated strain. She pointed to a dry bank of land on the other side of the chasm, untouched by the coursing oil.
A pop sounded from her wings and she winced. “You may want to brace yourself. This won’t be comfortable.” The gears in her back grinded to a halt, and her wings sputtered to a stop. The two fell from the sky and hit a bank of dry ground.
Jed rolled over and shifted his arms and legs to make sure they weren’t broken. He unclipped the carabiner and unwrapped the chain from around his chest, then checked on Sprocket, still tied to his backpack. She was a bit dented but mostly intact.
“Thanks,” Jed said at last. “You probably saved my life.”
The woman sat up. “No, I definitely saved your life. You were one second away from getting slurped by dread.”
“Dread. What are those things?”
She squinted at him. “You’re kidding, right?”
He shifted uncomfortably. “Not exactly.”
“You don’t know what dread are?” She laughed once and motioned to the world around them. “How can you not know what they are? You’re smack in the middle of the fog. Who the clunk lives here and doesn’t know what a dread is?”
Jed smiled. “That’s classified.”
“And thinks he’s funny, too, huh? You’d better be worth it. Since, because of you, now every dread on the barge knows where our base is.”
Jed looked around. He didn’t see a base—just more smashed-up junk. “What base?”
He waited for another snide That’s classified remark, but instead the woman simply pointed to a series of train cars embedded into the junk a dozen feet above them.
“I’m Alice, by the way,” she said, still sitting on the ground.
“Nice to meet you. I’m…well, I don’t really know who I am.”
“Admiral said you might have forgotten a bit. I didn’t realize how much.”
Jed’s heart jittered in his chest. “So you know who I am?” Jed asked.
Alice shrugged. “Maybe.”
He waited, but she didn’t say anything else. “What…what’s my name?” he asked.
“That’s classified,” she said with a wink.
Jed ground his teeth together and glared at her. “Right.”
“I’m kidding. But I’m still not going to tell you.”
“What? Why? It’s my name. I’m pretty sure I have a right to know it.” Anger leaked into the words as he said them.
“Sorry. Not my place. You’ll have to ask the admiral. I’m supposed to find you and bring you here. That’s all. Admiral said very specifically that he would answer all of your questions—and no one else.”
Jed folded his arms and surveyed the train car above them. “Fine. If you’re not going to tell me, then take me to this admiral.”
“That’s the mission. He’s been waiting a long time to see you.”
The gears on Alice’s back began to turn once again, and her wings briefly fluttered, lifting her upright. Before her feet left the ground, the grinding returned, and smoke coughed from the engines. The wings twitched and stopped, and Alice fell back down. “Hmm…” she said. “You go on ahead. I’ll be right behind.”
“It doesn’t look too far up,” Jed said. “I’m sure we could just climb instead of fly.”
“Just go. I already told you; I’ll be right there.”
“Why won’t you come with me?” Jed realized that Alice hadn’t stood since the crash. “Are you okay? Did you get hurt when we landed?”
“That landing felt like I was a slug getting kicked by a wrench. Of course I got hurt. But I’m fine. Now get going.”
Jed walked over and held out his hand. “Here, let me help you up.”
She clamped her teeth together, and her violet eye looked away. “Look. My legs don’t exactly work like other legs. And by that, I mean they don’t. Work, that is. Got it? I can’t walk, okay?”
“Oh. Sorry. I didn’t mean to…”
Alice rolled her eyes. “Stop looking at me like that.”
“Like what?”
“All droopy-faced. Your eyes look like melting butter. In case you don’t remember, I can fly. And you can’t. What do I need legs for when I can fly?” She reached both arms in front of her and dragged herself forward a few feet. “Go,” she said motioning to the train car. “Have Zix give you the tour. I’ll catch up.”
Jed searched for an entrance. “Where do I—”
“Third window from the left. Knock twice. Pause. Then twice again.” He waited for her to catch up, but she waved him forward. “Didn’t I just tell you to stop it with the pity treatment? I’ll be fine. Now get going. They’re all waiting for you.”
He wanted to ask who was waiting for him, but instead he walked the few steps to the steep canyon wall of junk. He wedged his foot on the edge of a mixing bowl and lifted himself up to a cuckoo clock. From there, he climbed to the train car jutting out from the junk. He scooted to the third window. The glass was scratched and blurry.
He knocked on the window twice, then twice again.
“Who is it?” a muffled voice called from inside.
J
ed wasn’t sure how to answer. “I don’t know exactly.”
“Huh? You don’t know who you are?”
“Yeah. I guess.”
“What kind of clunk head doesn’t know who they—”
“Zix,” Alice called from below. “Open up. It’s the boy. I got him. And hurry. He brought dread with him.”
A pair of latches clicked loose from inside, and the window slid open. There was Zix. Another winged machine. Dull metal weaved cleanly through his face, held together with small bolts and oiled hinges. Instead of eyes, Zix had two metal hoses extending from his eye sockets. At the end of each hose were solid green lights. Small shutters blinked open and shut over the lights.
“Hmm,” he said. “So, you’re the one?”
“The one what?” Jed asked.
“That’s him,” Alice called.
“Well get in here already,” Zix said. “Admiral wants to have a look at you.”
The window slid shut, and a door Jed hadn’t noticed yet opened in front of him. Jed stepped into what appeared to be a passenger cabin. A pair of bunk beds ran along each side wall, and there was a small table in between them with playing cards left facedown. Two other winged figures sat across from one another, fanned-out cards in their hands.
“Welcome on board the Endeavor. Finest crew of dragonflies you’ll find in the whole yard,” Zix said. His wings twitched as he considered what he’d just said. “Well…I suppose we’re the only dragonflies you’ll find in the yard. We’re a specialty squad of sorts, but this rig hasn’t been operational for years, so we’re scrambling to get it running as fast as possible. Some dragonflies were even still in hibernation.”
“Hibernation?”
“Sure. Just like you. The admiral told us you’ve been powered down for the last three weeks. Didn’t know if he’d ever find you again, but then your signal popped up a few days ago and Alice has been looking for you ever since.”
Three weeks…Jed thought to himself. I’ve been asleep for three weeks? The fuzzy memories made it feel like three years instead of three weeks.
“Alice is the newest member of the crew,” Zix continued. “She joined about a month ago.”
“Hey,” the dragonfly closest to Jed said. “Does Brindle got that jack of hearts in his hand? Take a peeksies for me, will you?”
The dragonfly across from him scowled and hunched over his cards.
“This here’s Dak, and that there’s Brindle,” Zix said.
Dak was a tank with wings. His thick metal body was plated in shiny strips of steel held together with meaty bolts. Brindle, on the other hand, was a flimsy, jointless bundle of copper wire.
Brindle noticed Jed’s stare. “It’s so I can move better.” He set his cards on the table and flung his arms back and forth. The bundled wires had impressive flexibility, rotating in a full circle at the elbows. They look like spaghetti, Jed thought.
No…not spaghetti…SPLAGHETTI. It was that word again, the one from the vision. It hovered in his mind. SPLAGHETTI…What was SPLAGHETTI? It was something important—something that he was supposed to have with him. Something that would save his life. But his pockets were empty. His backpack only had a few cans of food and Sprocket. He didn’t have SPLAGHETTI—whatever it was.
Brindle had nearly turned his head all the way around. “Pretty neat, huh?” he said.
Jed nodded, still not able to shake the word SPLAGHETTI from his mind.
“Stop showing off,” Dak said. “You look like a stretched-out slug. And it’s your turn to play.”
Brindle flushed, and his head swiveled back in place. “You’re just jealous,” he said, “because your lumbering scrapheap of a body can barely fit through a doorway.”
Dak’s jaw tightened. He slapped his cards on the table and stood. “How’s about I take that rubber-band body of yours and tie it into a little knot? Betcha won’t be so smug then, eh?”
Brindle smirked. “You’d have to catch me first. And those wagons you call hands aren’t exactly nimble.”
“It’s a small room,” Dak said. “My wagon hands will catch you eventually, and when they do, I’ll squish you up so small, you’ll fit in my pocket.”
Zix sighed. “Just don’t break anything, you two. Got it?” He motioned for Jed to follow. “Come on. Let’s get you to the admiral.”
They stepped into a corridor. “This is the Endeavor,” Zix said. “Dragonfly headquarters. The admiral is near the back, so you’re going to get the short tour. You came by the front of the train toward the helm. To make it easier, we call anything toward the helm ‘north,’ and anything toward the back of the train ‘south.’ Got it?”
“Got it,” Jed said.
Zix nodded. “Good. Follow me. First is the engine room.” They entered a humming room filled with gauges, pipes, and pistons. In the center stood a bright orange cylinder taller than Jed, and as wide as a barrel. “This here’s the Ion Battery,” Zix said. “Admiral’s own invention. Fully charged, this beauty will power a whole city. It’s a piece of art.” He paused for a moment, admiring the battery.
He led them into the next train car. When he opened the door, intense color shone back at Jed in brilliant, rich life. “This is the garden.” There were trees with peaches, plums, apples, and lemons. There were strawberry bushes, green bean strands, spearmint bushes, tomato plants, grape vines, and more. The top of the car was a solid sheet of glass. Jed desperately wanted to linger, but Zix dragged him forward.
“Next to the garden, we have the mess hall, naturally.” They entered a crew-kitchen and dining area where two winged dragonflies sat, one eating a bowl of tomato soup, and the other biting into an apple. They gave Zix a nod as he passed.
“Then we’ve got crew cabins for the next four cars. Ten rooms in each car.”
On either side of the next corridor were five doors leading into the crew cabins.
After the crew cabins was the medical station they called the med box.
As they passed through the med box, other winged workers toiled busily preparing panels, welding pipes into place, and soldering bits of wire together. Some knelt by panels on the floor, while others hovered near the ceiling, their wings keeping them steady in the air. The gentle hum from the wings was very different than the sandy, grinding sound that Alice’s made, as if hers were perpetually just a little bit broken.
“What are they doing?” Jed asked.
“What does it look like they’re doing?” Zix said.
“I don’t know,” Jed said. “Fixing something.” But the image seemed off to Jed. He knew that his memory was a pile of scrap, but as far as he could remember, trains didn’t have gears and machinery wired so abundantly throughout their frames. “I just didn’t know train cars had so many machines inside their walls.”
Zix gave him a raised eyebrow. “You don’t even know who you are, and suddenly you’re an expert on trains?”
Jed shook his head. “That’s not what I meant. Sorry.”
Zix shrugged. “Next is the ship’s workshop.”
After the workshop, they passed through a storage locker, and then a fully stocked library. All four walls were floor-to-ceiling bookcases stocked full of leather-bound books. The bookcases were made from rich cherry wood that felt warm and inviting. Yellow light from a single chandelier bathed the wood in a gentle glow. In the middle of one of the side walls, a fireplace burned with a soothing flicker. Two plush, leather chairs sat on either side of a small, round table.
“Finally, we have the admiral’s quarters.”
Zix opened the next door, which led into a finely decorated cabin. In the corner was a desk made from dark polished wood. Paintings of landscapes hung along the walls. Soft violin music played from an old phonograph.
A man sat in a chair behind the desk sketching something on a blank sheet of paper. He looked up as Jed entered. Black bandages wrapped around his face, covering his features. He wore a formal button-up shirt with a black coat.
Jed couldn’t see the ma
n’s eyes, but he could feel them locked onto his own. The admiral set down his pen and leaned back in his chair. “You found him. Well done, Alice. Well done, indeed.”
“Oh,” Jed said. “Alice is actually still outsi—”
But before he could continue, he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around. Behind him was Alice—holding herself upright with a handrail on the ceiling—giving him a little wave.
“I told you,” she said. “I’m not a toddler. I can get around just fine.”
“I’m sure our guest wasn’t trying to hurt your feelings when he called you a toddler,” the man behind the desk said.
Jed held up his hands and shook his head. “Oh—no, I didn’t actually call her a toddler. I was just—”
“I’m kidding,” the man said. “I know you didn’t. Alice tends to exaggerate.”
Alice shrugged. “It’s been known to happen.”
“Anything interesting to report, Alice?”
“He’s heavier than I thought he’d be,” she said, massaging her shoulder.
“It’s all that gold in him,” the man said. The bandages around his mouth dimpled with what looked like a smile. “It’s heavier than it looks. Anything else?”
“Just that we’re lucky I got to him when I did. A horde was about to slurp him up when I yanked his clunk neck to safety.”
“Did they follow you?”
“Yes.”
The man nodded. “Tell Zix that we’re going to need to move up our time line. Let’s get everything finished here within the hour.”
“Within the hour?” Alice asked. “That’s pushing it.”
“Well,” the man said, “we can either finish within the hour, or all get slurped up together. I’d prefer to stay in one piece, wouldn’t you? So, see if you can encourage Zix to get it done. Yes?”
Alice nodded and left the room.
The man shifted in his chair. Jed felt him staring through the black bandages. “I see you got my signal.”
“You were the one sending the flares,” Jed said, realizing that he should have made the connection earlier.
“Yes. My apologies for being a bit intrusive, but it’s critical that we begin your training as soon as possible.”
“My training? Training for what?”