Agatha H. and the Airship City (13 page)

After several seconds, Agatha swallowed and climbed down the metal ladder and went to the indicated bench. Seeing the young man had sent a peculiar feeling through her, one she attributed to her conviction that he was responsible for Dr. Beetle’s death. She reflected upon this while searching through the tools. To her immense surprise, she saw the goldfish that had been kept by Dr. Beetle. For some reason this upset her more than ever, and by the time she had located the correct wrench and climbed down into the work pit, she was building up to a fine temper. There was a small step-ladder leaning against the machine, and Agatha climbed up to the cockpit with a murderous gleam in her eye.

Gilgamesh was now elbow deep in the motor cavity, and with a grunt of satisfaction, pulled out a small hairy mimmoth. These pests, the result of some unknown madboy’s tampering, had infested most of the known world, and frequently fouled machinery. It honked at him. He spoke without looking at her. “I hope you found your quarters comfortable, I—”

A wrench was thrust into his face with a commanding “Here.”

Startled, he turned and saw a sullen Agatha regarding him, the wrench in one hand, the other hand upon her hip. A look of annoyance settled upon his face. He briskly tossed the mimmoth into a container and stripped off his work gloves. “Right. So much for small talk. Let us have this out right now. Sit down.”

“There’s nothing—”

Gil’s head swiveled towards her and he fixed her with an icy stare. “Sit.
Down,”
he commanded.

With a thump, Agatha found herself sitting upon a small bench seat.

Gil regarded her warily. For the first time, he seemed to notice her outfit. Agatha saw the direction of his gaze and squirmed in embarrassment. Her outfit creaked in protest.

Gil realized his mouth was open slightly and shut it with a snap, then shook his head and spoke calmly. “Miss Clay, I’m
really
sorry about Dr. Beetle. I know he was important to you, and I agree that his death was a complete waste, but—”

Agatha looked away and interrupted coldly, “But he threw a bomb at you. Yes, you’ve said.”

“NO!”
Gil’s fist crashed down and a startled Agatha saw him staring at her intently.
“I
think he threw a bomb at
you!”

After the first shock, Agatha felt herself getting angry. “Dr. Beetle
loved
me! He wouldn’t—”

Gil ignored her. “He wanted you out of that lab. In retrospect I can see that he was
terrified
of you being there. Why? What is it about you that could have gotten him in even
more
trouble with my father than his hiding a
Hive Engine?”

“Nothing!
There’s
nothing
about me!”

Gil leaned back and regarded her seriously. “Then what about your parents, the Clays?”

Agatha’s sudden start caused a tight smile of satisfaction to flash across his face. “Yes,
that
hit a nerve.”

Agatha rallied.
“Wrong.
My parents are simple, normal people.”

Gil nodded agreeably. “Did you know that you have been asleep for around thirty-six hours?”

Agatha felt off-balance at the change in conversation. “What does that have to do with—?”

“I can’t
find
these ‘simple, normal people’ of yours.”

A small smile curved Agatha’s lips. “Oh, really?”

Gil leaned forward. “And that doesn’t surprise you. It certainly surprises
me
. We had the town sealed and they
still
got out. How did they do that? More important,
why
did they do that? At the very least, one would think that they would inquire about you, their only daughter, but they never even returned to their home. Should we be worried about
them?”

Agatha bit her lip. These were legitimate questions. The idea that Adam and Lilith could actually be in a situation where they needed assistance was a foreign one, but there was always the possibility. “I don’t know.”

Gil studied her for a moment longer and nodded. “I see.” He smiled. “Now let’s talk about Herr von Zinzer.”

Agatha looked blankly at him. “Who?”

Gil’s smile widened. “Moloch von Zinzer?”

“I’m afraid I don’t—”

Gil continued, “The man you help build clanks with? While in your
underwear?
Your boyfriend? Your
lover?
The reason you’re
here?
Ring a bell?” he asked innocently.

Agatha flushed. “I
never!
He’s n—” Too late she caught Gil’s look of satisfaction. She quickly shifted mental gears. “He’s… nnnice!”

Gil looked at her askance. “Nice?”

Agatha nodded inanely, scarcely believing the drivel pouring out of her mouth. “That’s what I call him. Herr Nice. I don’t even
think
of him as… as…”

“Von Zinzer.”

“Von Zinzer. Yes.”

Gil raised an eyebrow. “Ah. Well then, you’ll both be happy to know that you’ll be assisting… Herr… Nice, with his next clank.”

“Oh. But… Good,” she finished weakly.

Gil smiled. “And I’m sure you’ll be relieved to know that we have a
very
relaxed dress code in the labs.”

Agatha stiffened. “You know, as much as I’d miss Mowgli—”

“Moloch?”

“Herr Nice,
I’d rather just go home and help look for my parents.”

Gil got serious. “I assure you, Miss Clay, we’re doing everything we can to find them. Unless you can think of somewhere in particular we should look?”

Reluctantly, Agatha shook her head. A sudden
clink
made her look around. A small blue claw appeared over the side of the machine, holding a delicate delftware teacup. Agatha reached out and took it. The tea within smelled delicious. “Thank you,” she murmured.

The claw then grabbed onto a protruding grommet and Zoing hauled himself upwards. Up close, Agatha still couldn’t penetrate the gloom under the little creature’s hat. Feeling her eyes upon it, Zoing looked back briefly, then reached inside a wide sleeve and pulled out a sugar bowl, which it offered graciously. Agatha declined. Zoing shrugged, and deftly extracted several sugar cubes and popped them inside its coat. Satisfied crunching noises followed.

Gil’s voice brought her back to the conversation. “Anyway, I’m afraid my father won’t allow you to leave just yet, he considers you his guarantee to Herr von Zinzer’s good behavior.”

Agatha felt an uncharacteristic flare of temper. “You can’t just keep me here.”

Gil had the grace to look slightly embarrassed, but he shrugged. “We
can
actually. It’s not like you could walk out the front door, you know.”

“Why not?”

“We don’t
have
one.” His face brightened. “You don’t know where you
are,
do you?”

Agatha blinked. Gil grabbed a control box that was attached to a long cable that went up into the ceiling. He grinned and stabbed at a button. “Let me
show
you!”

Agatha heard a squeal of alarm from Zoing, and then with a great
CLANG!
the floor split into two massive panels that swung downward, and the machine they were sitting in dropped. A quick look over the side caused Agatha to think she’d gone mad, as the ground was easily several thousand meters under them. A few farms nestled beside a river, and a vast forest covered much of the land. “What have you
done?”
she screamed against the uprushing wind.

Gil was busily manipulating the controls of the machine. He grinned again. “Ha! Watch
this!”

He threw a large switch, and the motor behind them coughed twice and then stopped. Silence surrounded them as they fell. Agatha crossed her arms. “Oh. It’s a Falling Machine. I’m
so
impressed.”

Gil looked annoyed. “Weird. It worked perfectly on paper…” Simultaneously the both of them swarmed over the engine.

“How’s it work?”

“Fuel here. Spark here. Main shaft. Boosters.”

“Interesting. Should this be loose?”

“Yes, it’s a balance arm.”

Agatha glared at him. “A balance arm? You’re wasting space in a flying machine with a
balance arm?”

“Well…
yes,
you still need—”

Agatha pushed him aside and reached into the engine compartment. A quick wrench and the small device was flung out into space, where it hung in front of Gil’s face.

“And
this!”
Another part was ripped loose. “This is a
heat pump!
Superfluous!”

Gil eyed the slowly spinning device with regret. “Nicely designed though, eh?”

Agatha reached back, grabbed his shirt front and hauled him beside her. “Look—”she commanded. “With more room you can enlarge this flywheel and
it
will act as a balance! Add coolant lines here and
here
and then it will also act as a
heat dump!”

The light dawned on Gil’s face. “I
see!
Then we can also get rid of these
here
if we add more vents!”

The two of them grinned in accord and began ripping various pieces of engine out and tossing the mover the side. A gleam came into Gil’s eye, and his voice began to match Agatha’s in intensity. “That’ll fix our heat problem
and
tighten up these linkages! I see! Yes! There’s a whole
bunch
of stuff we can get rid of!” He grabbed a large wrench. “Help me unbolt the engine!”

At this Agatha heard a strangled noise from behind, and felt an urgent tapping on her shoulder. Turning, she saw Zoing hanging upside down from the steering wheel. The small creature looked at her beseechingly and pointed over the side. A glance downward revealed the ground rushing upwards at an alarming rate. She in turn tapped Gil on the shoulder. “Um… of course, we
are
still falling.”

Gil looked at her blankly for a second. Then he rolled his eyes. “Oh,
that.”
He reached into the engine compartment. “This wire was loose. Let’s try it now.”

So saying, he turned to the controls, and threw a lever. Instantly the engine caught with a roar. The odd fenders unfolded with a snap to reveal themselves as a pair of large green wings, and with a massive jolt, the machine’s fall turned into a graceful dive that swung forward and the machine gently began to climb back up into the sky, barely clearing several of the taller treetops.

With a squeak, Zoing toppled forward onto the floor and twitched. Agatha decided not to disturb him. She looked around, but failed to see any buildings at all, let alone one tall enough to have fallen from.

“So,” she asked, “How did we get so high in the first place?”

Gil grinned. “We started higher. Look up.”

Agatha did so and gasped.

“We started from Castle Wulfenbach.”

And indeed, above them loomed the greatest symbol of the Baron’s authority. Castle Wulfenbach was a vast dirigible, almost a kilometer in length. The surface was encrusted with engines, viewpoints, and complex structures that would have dwarfed entire earthbound castles. Massive gun turrets bristled along its length. A row of windmills turned slowly along its keel. Perched atop its spine, minarets, domes and towers filled every square foot. Gardens were visible, as were the three great smokestacks venting steam.

Surrounding it on every side, above and below, was an armada of hundreds of smaller airships, although, Agatha realized with a shock, that several of these “smaller” ships were themselves dreadnoughts in the Baron’s fleet, made small only by the presence of the larger ship they escorted. Even at a glance one could see an order in the seeming chaos, as ships arrived and departed to and from the wide-spread empire.

The Baron had begun construction of the giant airship almost sixteen years ago, and had continually enlarged it until it had reached its current size. As his base of operations, it was unique as the only capital that was able to patrol its own empire. Onboard was the bureaucracy that allowed the Baron’s Empire to function, and many a local warlord had awoken to discover that the master’s crack teams of accountants and inspectors had landed in the night and were anxious to question him about irregularities in the books or that peculiar smell coming from the hidden laboratory. Its support crew numbered in the thousands, and rumor had it that vast numbers of them had not touched the earth in years. Many things were whispered about what went on aboard the gigantic airship, but surprisingly few townsfolk had been there. Sightings always caused the local population to pour out into the streets to stare until it had passed by. The panic started when it stopped overhead.

Agatha sat down as she stared upwards. She had traveled with Dr. Beetle several times on airships. They had been cramped, utilitarian vehicles. “I didn’t know… it didn’t feel like we were aboard a…”

“Really? I wouldn’t know. I grew up there.”

This brought Agatha back. “Oh yes. Sleipnir O’Hara said to say ‘Welcome back.’”

Gil’s face hardened. “Oh, she did, did she? Nice of her to
remember
me.”

Agatha was surprised at his reaction. “She seemed very fond of you, actually.”

“She has a funny way of showing it. I never heard from her, or
any
of the others once I left for Paris.” It was obvious despite his light tone, that this was something that bothered Gil quite a bit.

Agatha frowned. “Now wait a minute. She said that
you
never responded to any of
their
letters.”

“I never
got
any letters, and they never bothered to come see me when I returned.”

“Did you try to see them?”

“No,” Gil said coldly, “I thought they’d made their feelings clear enough—”

“Guess they felt the same way.”

“But I didn’t—” Gil paused. His eyes narrowed. He continued slowly, “Or rather, I had been led to believe…”

The engine gave a sudden cough and both of them looked at it. It hiccoughed and then roared back to full power. Gil nodded. “You had some interesting ideas regarding the engine.” He paused. “Build many?”