Fall of Sky City (A Steampunk Fantasy Sci-Fi Adventure Novel) (Devices of War) (13 page)

Keeley let go and ran for the bay door.

Yvette and Haji were right on her tail.

I really needed to keep up.

The door was rising and the plane was going faster and faster. The plane lifted from the rolling jacks and then fell back down. I was running out of time. I put in a burst of speed and leapt for the door. I tucked and rolled and the door closed behind me.

“That was close.”

Haji shook his head at me with a look that said, “What have you gotten us into this time, you idiot?”

There was one more bounce and some shouting from the front of the plane. Keeley disappeared toward the source of the sound, shouting, “Hold on to something.”

Like what?

I looked around and found rope tying the cargo into place. Good enough. The floor of the plane lifted. There was a dip and then a drop so big, it sent us headed toward the ceiling.

We’d fallen off the edge of the city.

We leveled out.

Haji and I shared a triumphant smile.

And then my head split open. I fell to the floor and curled up, my mouth open in a scream. I pushed back toward the bay door, trying to get it to stop.

A single voice threaded its way through the pain.

You are mine, Primus. Swear it
.

And I had.

CHAPTER 11

DEAR MOTHER OF DIRT

My fingers
clawed at my scalp, trying to assuage the pain exploding inside. Nothing helped. The others asked me if I was okay. I’m pretty sure. I don’t know. The pain blocked my ears.

I had to get off the plane. My fingers searched for the button to the door.

Something hard smashed against my fingers.

I roared. Steam rolled over me in waves. The metal underneath my hand turned molten.

Someone’s fist slammed into my face. There was a lot of shouting.

The thought of getting off that plane made the pain in my head dissipate. A little, which was enough to be a lot. I needed to go back.

The cockpit. I needed to get to the cockpit and send the plane back.

I made a mad dash for it.

Joshua was waiting for me at the door with a pan.

The pan made a new explosion resound in my head. I was thrown to the floor writhing. I
had
to get back!

“What’s wrong with him?”

I barely registered what I heard. My eyes could see nothing.

“This isn’t normal.” Keeley.

I turned to her and roared through the pain, unable to speak actual words. I. Had. To. Get. BACK!

“He’s been compulsed.” Joshua.

“Compulsed?” Yvette. “What does that even mean?”

“I was wonderin’ why we weren’t being followed. Now I know.” Rummaging. “Nix expects ‘im to just come back. No matter where we take ‘im.”

“What can we do?” Keeley.

“I might know someone.” Joshua. “But the only thing tha’ will make him feel any better is knowin’ he’s going back to her.”

I didn’t. Didn’t want to. Wanted to leave. Get the hell out of there.

I was pushed back down. “Don’t worry, lad. I know. We’ll get you back. I promise.”

I sagged with relief as the pain subsided.

“Josh,” Keeley said indignantly. “You can’t be serious.”

“Oh, but I am.” His voice trailed off. “I’m also certain he’s goin’ ta be the one to kill the bloody bitch.”

I snorted, reeling from the ebbing of the throb.

“Josh.”

I started to register the outline of people. Joshua turned to me and sent me a fuzzy smile.

“Well, this is just fantastic,” Yvette said, one hand on her hip. “I didn’t escape just so I could get caught again, this time to be imprisoned and possibly murdered like the rest of my Family. You’re taking me to the nearest city and you’re dropping me off.”

“Well, first,” Joshua said, kneeling beside me with a roll of rope in his hands, “we have to figure out how to land this thing.”

“So we’re not going back right now?” I asked, my voice a bare whisper. All the different sounds were starting to register with a pounding resistance.

He took my hands and bound them together. “Not yet, lad, but you just—”

My brain felt like it was being squeezed. I fell back and arched my back, trying to get anything to stop the—

Hands gripped my face. Words were shouted at me, but nothing made sense. Someone was in my face. I could feel the spittle of the words against my chin.

“…going back.”

Ebb.

“We’re going back.”

Flow.

“You’ll see Nix again.”

Breathe. Light flared. The shadow of his head bobbed in front of me. Fingers dug into my head.

“We’re going back.”

I closed my eyes, exhausted. “Make it stop.”

“Listen to me, lad. We can’t land on Sky City. We’re too heavy and there’s no landin’ gear.”

“Where then?” I panted, my eyes open. I couldn’t make out much. Just darkness and the occasional shape.

“I don’t know, but I’ll figure somethi’g out. I need someplace soft.”

“Water.”

“No’ water tight. Synn, lad, just stay with me. I’m workin’ on a plan to get ye back.”

“Don’t want to.”

His fingers dug into the back of my neck a little before releasing me. “I know.” He set me down and bound my feet.

“Why the ropes?” Yvette. “He can’t go anywhere.”

“Ye’d be surprised what the mind can do, lass. I once saw a great white bite off his paw after being trapped in a net.”

“A great white?”

“Bear.” Keeley.

“I’ve never seen one of those.”

“Maybe if we can stay free, ye’ll have the chance to do so.”

“Haj.” It hurt to speak. I couldn’t believe how tired I was. I just had a pounding head. It wasn’t as if I’d done anything physical.

Someone knelt by me. He smelled like home. Air, wood, rope and jelly gas. “Yeah, Synn.”

I closed my eyes and sank deeper to the floor. “I’m sorry.”

He was quiet for a long time. “Me too.”

Everyone disappeared after that, which was okay by me. The roar of the engines was enough to kill me. I kept repeating to myself that we were going back, and the pain subsided bit by bit until it was a dull ache behind my eyes and at the nape of my neck.

I opened my senses to the world around me one small piece at a time and tuned them out, searching for the voices of my friends, the people who now controlled my fate.

The engines. It was difficult to drown them out, they were so loud, but I knew after living on Sky City for so long that it was possible. That was the noisiest city I’d ever visited in my life.

A squeak. I concentrated on it for a long time. It would go in and out. Sometimes I could hear it. Other times, I couldn’t, but there was a rhythm. I just had to wait for it. There. One, two, double-three.

Radio.

I swallowed and listened harder.

Something vibrated. That noise set my teeth on edge. Metal on metal. I couldn’t understand why someone would build a flying vessel out of something so heavy and loud. It made no sense.

I focused around that.

There.

A word.

I scooted closer.

Two more words. “…sand…giraficus…”

It made no sense.

My eyes were super sensitive to the light, but if I kept them open just barely wide enough to allow me to see, it didn’t hurt too badly. There was the door to the cockpit. I scooted toward it, moving slowly. Sudden movements were not good.

“I don’t know where else to land us.” Joshua.

“Safara is absolutely the worst place of all places to land a craft.” Haji.

“Why is it worse than any other place?” Yvette.

“It is very wild. Creatures unlike any you have seen before.”

“You are so hard to understand. Is he even speaking Handish?”

“Quit being so mean.” Keeley.

Quiet.

“Do you have a better idea?” Joshua asked, his voice a quiet murmur.

“What if we land on a
lethara
?” Haji asked. “There, we would have enough altitude to take off and not crash.”

“Tha’s a good idea, lad, but do they have city streets wide enough for us? An’ could we land without takin’ out a few tentacles?”

“I did not think of that.”

“It’s okay.”

“You know,” Yvette said, her voice low, “for someone as well traveled as you, you’re sure not helpful.”

“I do not see you being of much assistance.” Haji’s words came quite clearly that time. “The
letharan
are able to move their tentacles out of the way. They are quite smart, you know. I am sure that if we came into contact with one, we would be able to get it to make room for us.”

“And how would we communicate with it?” Keeley asked.

“I had a radio.” Haji’s voice grew distant for a moment. “But it is back on Sky City hidden on a ship that would have taken us safely away from here.”

“You’re safe now.”

“Oh, yes,” Haji said derisively. “I feel very safe on a ship that burns fuels we cannot replenish and that cannot land…anywhere.”

“Can you use our radio?” Keeley asked.

“I will take a look at it and find out. I do not think so. Your boxes are quite different from ours.”

“But it originated from the same notes,” Joshua reminded him. “So I’m guessing there are enough similarities tha’ you could make it work.”

“Like I said, I will look at it.”

“How do we find one of these
letharan
?” Yvette drew out the word ‘letharan’ like it was the first time she’d said it. “Don’t they move?”

“Yes, yes they do,” Haji said. “Mostly, they travel with the currents, but the Hands have started tracking the currents, so we’ve devised other methods of traveling that are not so good.”

“But it’s better for those who are tryin’ no’ ta be caught by the Hands.” It sounded like Joshua was talking behind his hand.

“In that matter, we agree whole-heartedly.”

There was quiet.

“Do ye know where we migh’ find one?”

“No. They cannot be seen from the air.”

“But they’re big beasts,” Yvette said.

“They’re not beasts,” Keeley said.

“They are not beasts.” Haji moved around. He kicked something metal and cursed. “But in any case of semantics, they are clear. From above, it appears as though you’re seeing the ocean.”

“But what about the cities?” Yvette asked. “Surely, you’d be able to see the cities.”

“I do not trust you well enough to tell you all the secrets of our peoples. Just know that we can hear the airboats of the Hands. They are quite loud. When the sounds find us, our
letharan
hide us.”

“How is that even possible?”

“I have wanted to see one for so long,” Keeley said breathlessly. “They’re like a myth.”

“They are no myth, red lady.” Haji’s tone only had respect for Keeley. “They are very real and they are respected and loved amongst our peoples.”

“Tha’ only tells me how we
can’t
find one,” Joshua said. “No’
how
to find one.”

“Yes, you are right. You are right. You can only find one with our radio.”

“Which we don’t have.”

Silence.

“What are we going to do about Synn once we land?” Keeley.

That’s the question I wanted to ask. I didn’t want to go back, but I also wanted my head to stop imploding. I should have stopped listening. I could go along with the lies and be fine, no matter how long it took. I just needed to keep thinking that I was going back.

Thrumming started in my temples and feathered around my eyes.

I winced.

No. I needed to know.

“I know someone who can help ‘im.”

“Where is he?” Haji asked.

“She.” Joshua’s voice was quiet. “Tha’s goin’ ta be the tricky part. I don’t know. Last I knew, she was hiding amongst the remaining Great Families.”

“But the Families have been falling for years, turns, even.” Yvette didn’t sound real positive. “How do you know she’s still alive?”

The group said nothing for a while. The roar of the engines filled my ears.

“I have been in contact with the outside world for some time,” Joshua said softly, his voice a bare murmur.

“So you were the one the Hands were looking for,” Yvette accused.

“Yes.”

“What were they looking for?” Keeley asked.

Yvette cleared her throat. “Dyna pulled me into her office one day and asked me if I knew of anyone sharing secrets with the outside. Apparently, the outside was coming up with technologies that only we were supposed to have.”

“Like what?” Keeley asked.

“Weapons mostly,” Yvette said. “Why do you think I was able to stay in the laboratories without causing suspicion? I made a few reports every once in a while, kept an eye on everyone’s experiments, and I was free and clear.”

“What did you tell them?” Keeley asked, her voice filled with horror. “You were spying on us?”

“No, you
singe
,” Yvette said, her voice crisp. “I was being near my friend and spying on everyone else.”

Joshua chuckled. “I wondered.”

“This is all superbly wonderful,” Haji said, “but it is not helping us with how to get where we can land.”

“Do you know if anyone was able to implement the radar I leaked?”

“I do not know what a ra-dar is.”