by Sadie Swift
Twenty-five
A thud sounds at the stage and I look back at it to see the fat man callously push his dead compatriot off the front. The ladies closest to where the corpse lands give a little squeak of alarm.
“So, Alice, what will you do? Kill us all, even this, whatever this is,” indicating Sir Percival above him, “Or surrender?”
I really don’t like the way his voice changes when he says my name. And surrender? Not on his nelly!
Harsh Italian sounds from behind me and I see shiny metal balls being rolled along the marble floor into the hall. I glance behind and see the elderly lady has had quite enough of the situation. Our eyes meet and she mimics pulling the gaff across her throat.
Yes, far too much talking.
The balls roll underneath the chairs the captured ladies are sitting in. A few moments later their internal clockwork winds down and ear-shattering shrieks fill the hall surprising everyone but myself.
Over the noise Francesca calls out in Italian and the ladies behind me rush into the room with cries of anger, their weapons raised and ready to be used, and head towards their captured compatriots.
Knowing I can’t use it I quickly put my gun away and replace it with a metal ball from another pocket, but different to the ones I handed out earlier. I know exactly what it is due to the indentations I put on its surface. I twist its top and forcefully throw it underhand towards the man at the machine. With my attention taken by the man I threatened with my gun earlier I don’t see the results of its internal clockwork winding down, but do hear a satisfying scream as the poison-tipped needles fire outwards and find their mark. Quite where the Department’s housekeeper, Mrs Miggins, obtained the toxin is a mystery, but one I’ll be thankful to her for.
I need to get to Sir Percival and release him from the machine, if I can also get to the fat man who appears to be the leader and do something very nasty to him then all the better.
The man I threatened earlier has a savage grin on his face as he heads towards me holding a knife.
Out of another pocket I bring another metal ball. This one was equally as tricky to construct as it contains highly potent pepper powder. I really must find out who Mrs Miggins’ supplier is. With a quick twist I throw it at the man’s head. He bats it away with the hand holding his knife, but the damage is done and the ball breaks apart engulfing him in a cloud of red powder. He begins coughing and is unable to prevent me from walking over and kicking him where I know it’ll hurt the most. He falls helpless to the floor, tears streaming from his eyes, and in a world of pain. I decide to let the other ladies deal with him as a lot of them are now released by Francesca’s group and are taking their revenge out on the men.
I head towards the stage and by sheer luck find the elderly lady in front of me. Her gaff is bloodstained and I manage to avoid it as she viciously swings it at me when I take her by the shoulders. “There!” I point towards the stage, where the fat man is looking with dismay as the very determined ladies of Venice (and yours truly) put an end to his plans. She looks to where I indicate and nods at me, her eyes gleaming. Maybe I’ll just let her have her way with the fat man?
“Miss Lovelady! The aether!” Sir Percival’s voice cries above the pandemonium below him.
I look up to see what he means – the purple glowing aether is filling the top of the hall and is slowly descending down towards us. I must shut the machinery down or a nasty death awaits!
Quickly I indicate to the elderly lady the fat man and slice my hand across my throat. She nods her understanding and heads towards him, like a wrinkled vulture after its prey, while I head in the other direction to the aetheric machinery. I don’t rate his chances very highly against her.
I hurry to the aetheric machinery, helping my female compatriots with an occasional well-aimed kick, or punch with my knuckle-duster, against the men they’re fighting. The man who received my poison-tipped needle-ball earlier is lying on the ground, his eyes bulging and his red-mottled face frozen in pain with little needles sticking out of it.
At the front of the machinery a myriad of dials and ivory-handled levers face me as overhead more aether is released into the hall. But which lever did he pull down? Each of them has an incomprehensible Italian word written on paper stuck below it. When I was at the entrance to the hall I saw the man’s arm pull it down, so it must be one of those to my left. Several levers are already in the down position.
Dare I choose the one furthest to my left?
Taking a deep breath and with a quick prayer, I take hold and push it back up.
Twenty-six
The massive machine gives a shudder, almost making me lose my footing. I look up to see if any more aether escapes or if I’ve shut it off. But I catch sight of a purple glow slowly increasing in intensity deep within the machine. What is happening?
I look back to Sir Percival in case he can provide information but he’s trying to lower his head below the level of the already released aether while still tied to the large human-like machine.
A crackling sound slowly builds along with the purple light’s brightness. Have I used the wrong lever?
Suddenly, almost stopping my heart, the bright purple light disappears and I see its light travelling very fast past the joins in the lower of the two large metal pipes heading out through the wall. The crackling sound dies down, but I know the aether will be back.
Looking back up I see that no more aether is joining that already obscuring the ceiling. Have I got time to help release Sir Percival?
Looking round the hall I see the ladies are definitely in charge and the Men of the Cog are bloodied and bruised. On the stage the elderly lady is swinging her sharp fish gaff viciously at the fat man but he’s fending her off with some metal item. Our eyes meet and he takes hold of the stepladder, the lady once atop it now helping her Venetian sisters against the men. Suddenly he pulls it over, aiming it at the elderly lady! My heart stops seeing it crash upon her thin body, hearing her cry out in pain. With her out of action he heads behind the large machine holding Sir Percival and begins climbing up it. What is he up to?
Twenty-seven
My way to the stage is blocked by chairs and I angrily push them out of the way. I see the ladies have captured all of the men, some of whom met the elderly lady first and are lying in pools of blood. Francesca makes sure the wounded ladies are looked after while ensuring the men are safely tied up.
Sir Percival calls out in fear and I see the machine he’s tied to begin to stir into life, causing even more pain in his tortured body. The fat man must be at its controls!
“Get them out of here!” I yell to Francesca. If any spark touches the aether floating above us then all will be for naught!
I almost reach the stage before the machine raises its right leg and smashes it down through the wood. It almost topples over but must have some gyroscopic mechanism preventing such an occurrence. Quickly it does the same with its left leg and then walks forwards, smashing its way through to the front of the stage on its way towards me.
Movement to my right catches my eye and I see Francesca also head towards the stage. Quickly I glance behind and see the ladies heading out of the hall, the captured men in single file, sandwiched between them.
The ladder still lies on top of the old lady. She’s unmoving and I don’t know if she’s still alive or dead. “The elderly lady is hurt!” I cry over to Francesca, pointing her out to her.
Sir Percival’s fearful face looks down at me as the machine’s steps thud into the marble floor. It bends over and sweeps the chairs out of its way with its left arm, they fly away, some hitting the large aether machine. Sir Percival cries out as his own arm is hurt by the movement. He could be crushed to death by it! But how do I get him off it?
A crack! comes from the aether machinery. What did those chairs hit? Isn’t the aether pulse due back soon?
Sir Percival looks over at the machine, being up so high he has a better view of what it’s doing. He turns back to me
and screams, “GET OUT!”
I back away from the machine coming towards me. If I let it follow me then he has a chance to get out himself. From behind the machine I see Francesca push the ladder off the elderly lady and pick her up in her arms. She appears to be quite light for such a vicious person. Then she hurries off the stage and towards the exit the other ladies took.
I look around for another exit, one that doesn’t involve the machine smashing through a wall and therefore Sir Percival being crushed to death by masonry. I spy a large tapestry hanging against one of the walls. I run towards it and pull it away. It’s covering a doorway, a large doorway. Hopefully large enough to be of use!
I jump up and use my weight to rip the tapestry away revealing tall double-doors. The machine thuds towards me. I grab the handle and turn it.
It’s locked!
Twenty-eight
I have to get the doors open but only know of one way to do it quickly and have to hope my luck will last and the aether doesn’t explode! Reaching into another pocket I feel the indentations upon the metal balls it contains to make sure they’re the ones I’m after. Pulling one out I turn and throw it at the machine’s left foot.
Sir Percival’s eyes widen at what I’ve just done.
I crouch down and shield myself with my coat as much as possible. The explosive goes off, the noise filling the hall. Dust from the ceiling slowly falls through the purple aether. I look out and see that the machine is heavy enough to be only left teetering on its right foot. But it gives me time to throw another ball underhand at the lock on the door. Again I cover myself. When it explodes I see the doors are blasted apart with plaster dust and loose masonry falling to the floor.
Behind me another explosion sounds, but not one that I’m responsible for.
“THE AETHER MACHINE! GET OUT, MISS LOVELADY!” shouts Sir Percival.
I look back and see the human-like machine find its feet again and head towards me with a slight limp as some of its left foot is missing.
But of more concern is the smoke coming from the huge aether machine, which is where the additional explosion came from.
Any second now the aether pulse is going to arrive back and blow this whole building to smithereens!
I run out through the shattered door into darkness. Thankfully the fog has lifted. Maybe the fat man decided it wasn’t needed anymore? Lights atop metal columns show the outlines of trees and plants. An avenue leads off from my left and I head along it. A crash sounds and I turn to see the machine’s head smash through the top of the doorway. Plaster and masonry falls upon Sir Percival’s head, but he only gets scratches on his face as he still has an awful lot of hair protecting him. At least he’s not been crushed by going through a wall.
The machine continues thudding after me. The fat man must believe that it would be faster than he would be using his own legs as he’s not abandoned it yet.
Where would the ladies have gone? The machine following behind me may well have destroyed most of the boats that headed round both sides of the island, but what of those that went straight for the nearest docking point? That must be where they’re going. But which way is that?
Twenty-nine
I head down the avenue and enter an area where strange twelve-foot high box-like shapes are set in rows. For some reason they look to have drawer fronts on them.
The world explodes with an incomprehensibly loud noise. I’m thrown to the ground as the shockwave hits, and feel the ground vibrating beneath me. I hear a faint cry from behind and turn to see the machine toppling over towards me. I cry out knowing I’ll be crushed. But its outstretched arms hit the tops of the box structures on either side and prevent it crashing to the ground and killing me. Sir Percival is thrown forward against the ropes tying his own outstretched arms to those of the machine’s. He screams in pain as his arms are nearly torn away from his body.
Behind him a huge glowing purple fireball rises into the sky. Parts of stonework and bricks fall around me like very heavy snow.
This is my chance to release him! I quickly pull one of my knives from its sheath around my ankle and head over to him. More explosions sound, but somehow deeper this time, and they seem to be moving. A sudden burst of rain falls on me as I jump up onto the machine’s body and climb up to where Sir Percival’s body is hanging off the machine, only his tied arms preventing him from falling to the ground. I’m not very familiar with bodily injury (apart from that which I cause myself), but his arms don’t look quite right.
With my feet anchored within the metal struts that he couldn’t reach earlier I reach across his torso and hold another metal bar then use my body to try and relieve the pressure on his tortured arms.
I feel more movement and look up into the machine to see the fat man desperately trying to restart the machine. Dark blood shows on his head where the shockwave pushed him against the machine’s structure. I want to get my hands on whatever passes for his neck, but must make sure that Sir Percival is safe first.
My knife finishes cutting through the rope holding his left arm up and it flops down around me. Sir Percival hisses at the pain. It definitely doesn’t look right. Possibly dislocated, a little voice inside me says.
I climb sideways across Sir Percival, using my body to support his, and hold the knife blade with my teeth so I can transfer it to my left hand. Through the machine I see the fat man slowly climb down out of the control area.
Holding tightly onto the machine with my right hand and making sure my footing is firm I take the knife from my mouth with my left and begin sawing through the rope holding Sir Percival’s left arm. I decide that the smells of sweat-stained clothing are merely those of overly-exuberant hairy dogs who’ve had a jolly long walk through wet marshland.
“Soon be free, Sir Percival,” I say encouragingly.
He replies with a moan of pain.
More rain falls on us. Has another storm arrived? A loud slap! sounds and I glance down to see a fish flopping about on the ground. How did that get there?
“Aether pipe… through canal,” Sir Percival hisses through his pain.
What? What does he mean? Then it hits me – the explosion is now moving through the aether pipe that travels along the length of the Grand Canal! What will that do to Venice?
A click sound comes from below and I glance down to see what fish has now been blown out of the water, only to see the fat man pointing a gun up at me.
Thirty
The fat man looks up at us, he’s not directly underneath, but to my right so I can’t simply take a chance and fall down on him. He breathes heavily, climbing up into the machine and then back down again must have winded him. His piggy eyes show how much he likes having Sir Percival and I at his mercy. I realise he’s a gloater – enjoying other people’s pain and discomfort, while he feels superior to them.
The last strands of twine around Sir Percival’s right arm stretch and then, with a snap! Sir Percival’s full weight is on my body. I grunt with the effort of keeping us both from falling – although I doubt sir Percival will ever tell anyone, I still have no wish to sustain injury with a man on top of me.
Like a sudden shower more water falls upon us and while the fat man is wiping it off his face I take the opportunity to badly throw the knife in his general direction with my left hand, then use it to grasp onto a metal strut. He easily moves out its way, but momentarily his gun isn’t pointing at us. Quickly I reach into a pocket, any pocket, with my right hand for a ball. I don’t have time to learn what type it is by the indentations on its surface nor wind it up, I just throw it at him.
My right handed aim is better - the metal ball hits his wet clothing and bounces to the ground. Will it do anything? Am I also in danger from it?
He laughs at my apparent failure and begins to move the gun to aim at us again.
“I will be well rewarded by my masters for your death, Alice. That I also put an end to his miserable life will be a bonus.”
Whatever clockwork was in th
e ball winds down and a high-pitched whistle assaults my eardrums while an incandescent flare explodes into life. I quickly turn my head and close my eyes but not before my night vision is ruined. I can feel the intense heat from it even where I’m supporting Sir Percival several yards away and up in the air. Being as close to it as the fat man is must feel like jumping into a blast furnace. After a few moments the whistle’s volume begins to decrease and I begin to be aware of a strangled high pitched scream coming from the fat man’s direction. When my night vision comes back I turn to see what has happened to him.
Steam and smoke mingle as they rise up into the air from his body. The whole of the front of the fat man’s body is looks like it’s been sheared off and burned black. His face is no longer present, merely charred flesh and bone. The arm with which he used to aim his gun at us ends somewhere around his elbow. Steam rises from the red hot gun, now lying on the ground, as water falls upon it. The smell of burnt meat assaults my nostrils. Slowly the remains of the fat man fall backwards to splash in the puddles behind him.
Sir Percival whispers through his pain, “That was for Rupert, you bastard.”
“A fitting end for him, Sir Percival?”
“Very.”
Thirty-one
Somehow, and with many gasps of pain, I bring Sir Percival down to earth and help him over to sit on the closest bench. After what I’ve been through this evening I too feel the need for a sit-down. Faint screams of fright come to us from the direction of Venice as the aether within the conduit explodes. What that will do to Venice I have no idea. The only good thing is that with the explosions finished around San Michele the man-made rain, and occasional fish, has ceased falling from the sky.