Agatha H. and the Airship City (9 page)

This morning Klaus intervened early. “Boris, is it safe?”

“I honestly believe so, Herr Baron.”

“Good. Sergeant? Carry on.”

“Jah, Herr Baron.” With a theatrical sigh, the soldier tossed his weapon to Boris, who managed to catch it without spilling his coffee, and stomped over to the machine, which had advanced to meet him in the middle of the street. When he was within range, the arm quickly unfolded from underneath and grabbed him.

“Oh, help,” he muttered in a disgusted tone of voice, “I hef been captured by a clenk. Help. Help.”

The machine raised him up to what appeared to be an array of crude sensors on its front. “Hokay,” the Jäger muttered, “get
on
vit it.”

Several of the sensor lens flared into blue-white brightness and swept over the captive soldier, who flinched at the glare. After several seconds of stillness, the device casually tossed the Jägersoldier onto the ground and again began to advance.

Boris smiled serenely and bit into a fresh doughnut. “You see, Herr Baron, entertaining, but harmless.”

The furious sergeant strode up, while brushing off his hat. “You
is
schtupid! Dat ting could be lookink for
hennybody!
And ven it
finds
dem,
den
you gots
trouble!”

Klaus nodded. “You are correct, Sergeant, but this is also a priceless opportunity.”

Boris looked stricken. “I don’t understand, Herr Baron.”

The now grinning Jägermonster poked him in the back of the head. “Dots because
hyu
ain’t the schmot guy.”

The Baron turned to his son, who quickly finished his own doughnut. “Gil?”

“Well, Father, I’ve thought of four ways to stop it, depending on whether you want it destroyed, shut down, contained, or immobilized.”

The Baron sighed. “Actually, I want it
distracted.”

A look of annoyance flashed across Gilgamesh’s face. “Of
course
you do.” It was replaced by a mischievous look and with a “Consider it done!” he bounded forward, ignoring his father’s cry of alarm.

Striding up to the machine he jauntily addressed it. “Hullo, Herr Clank! Are you looking for
me?”

Again the metal arm whipped out and grabbed, but all it brought up to its sensors was an empty greatcoat. Several yards away, from atop a stack of barrels, Gilgamesh gaily called out, “Ho! You’ll have to do better than
that!”

Instantly the giant device launched itself towards him, displaying an unsuspected turn of speed. The ground shook under the impacts of its massive feet. Gil stood, apparently unconcerned as the device thundered towards him, until the last second, when as the great hand smashed into the barrel where he’d been, he leapt onto the shaft of the arm, and with a bounce, latched onto the case containing the sensor array, blocking it with his body.

The device stopped dead for several seconds. Its arm swung up, but could not reach Gil. It then began a twisting, gyrating series of movements to try and throw him off. Clinging grimly, Gil called out, “Any
time,
Father!”

Klaus, after his first display of agitation, had gone still, as he intensely studied the movements of the control unit at the rear of the clank. It was a small bullet-shaped mechanism equipped with several flexible arms which furiously operated the levers and wheels that actually drove the main engine. After a minute or so, a grim smile crossed his features and he reached into his coat, pulling out a small grappling gun. In a single motion he aimed and fired, and the automatic grapple closed upon the lever he desired. A sharp tug, and the switch was thrown. With a massive hiss of escaping steam, the clank pitched forward onto its knees, inert. Gil released himself at the last moment and landed lightly upon his feet. Nonchalantly dusting himself off, Gil remarked, “Well
done,
Father.”

Klaus wheeled at him and roared,
“LACKWIT!
How
dare
you put yourself at risk! You or I may very well
be
this device’s quarry! I needed a
distraction
, not a
sacrifice! That
is what the
Jägermonsters
are for!”

Boris looked askance at the sergeant. “A pity we can’t use them

all.”

The Jäger dismissed him with a good-natured wave of his hand. “Ah—go kees an
hoctopoos
. Oh vait, you mama already
did!”

His point made, Klaus began to examine the motionless device. The monster soldier sidled up to a silently fuming Gil and murmured. “Hey, keed.” Gil blinked as a large hairy hand descended on his shoulder. “Hyu deed pritty goot dere, hen don be fooled. You papa doz crazy schtupid stoff like dot
hall de time
. Hokay?”

Gill nodded. “Hokay. Ah—I mean okay. Thanks.”

At that moment the Baron yelled, “Everybody
back!”
as he leapt from the rear of the clank, which, with much hissing and squealing, was pulling itself back up onto its feet. Once there, it spun around several times, and whistle blowing, strode off down the street by which it had come. Klaus nodded in satisfaction. “Sergeant,” he roared, “prepare some ‘C’ bombs! First patrol— Follow that clank!”

Six Jägers roared, “Jah! Herr Baron, ve
hunt!”
and pelted off down the street.

Gil turned to his father who was shrugging off his greatcoat. Even beneath his shirt and vest, muscles could be discerned, shifting and moving. “What did you do, Father?”

“The device was programmed to
find
someone and then bring them ‘home.’ I simply reversed the device’s task order.” He flung his coat at a startled Boris. “Now let’s
run!”

As one, the two men sped off down the road, to the astonishment of the observing townspeople. As they ran, Klaus called out, “Tell me what we’ll find!”

A look of exasperation crossed Gil’s face. “Everything does
not
have to be a
test!”

Klaus laughed and effortlessly cleared a cartload of barrels that had been knocked down by the passing clank.
“Life
is a test! Now
answer!”

Gil concentrated for a moment as he ran, then spoke as they leapt down a set of stone steps. “It’s not one of Beetle’s—it’s too crude. Maybe a student, or a younger professor.”

The streets were beginning to fill now, people were staring after the clank that had rumbled through the streets and the Jägermonsters that had pursued it, but the way was still clear enough that the two men were able to run unhindered.

Klaus shook his head. “No. Anyone at the University would have had access to better materials. The construction
screams
inexperience, and since there have been no new Sparks in this area for several
years,
I believe this to be a
breakthrough!
A
new
Spark, and I want him!”

“Maybe Beetle was hiding him?”

“No. The preliminary stages of a breakthrough are extremely difficult to disguise.
Remember?”
Gil nodded. His own breakthrough had had to be explained as a venting explosion in the main labs, and everyone else had just assumed that the pools of raspberry jelly were a bizarre side effect. Klaus continued, “Beetle couldn’t even hide a
Hive Engine
. A new Spark would have been
impossible.”

Gil looked and saw that the street up ahead had completely filled with curious bystanders. Without a word the two men swerved, and leapt atop a wall that ran along the street, upon which they dashed past the astonished crowd. “Unless, Father, he’d
known
that this particular person would break through, and had isolated them beforehand.”

Klaus frowned. “Unlikely. We keep records on the families of all established Sparks, and there are none unaccounted for. As for detecting a potential breakthrough amongst the general populace, even
I
have yet to develop a sure test for
that
. What
else
can you tell me?”

Gil thought for a moment while leaping from the wall. “It wasn’t constructed at the University. So a foundry or a machine shop off-campus. Only they’d have the necessary tools. But if he’s a newcomer to town—”

Klaus interrupted: “Shops can be rented. What about the man himself?”

A series of overturned carts, shouting peddlers, and items strewn about the streets indicated they were entering a market district. Gil vaulted over a load of spring onions. “He’s been
wronged
by someone. Someone he can’t touch through normal channels.” He grimaced. “Most likely
us.”

Klaus nodded grimly. “Yes, the timing is
perfect
. Beetle is dead at our hands—”

“He threw a
bomb
at me.”

“Someone here is
very
upset.” They raced through Beetle Fountain Square, with its spitting statues. Pigeons clattered upwards around them, their clockwork mechanisms almost inaudible over the sound of their wings. Suddenly one of the birds froze and dropped to the ground, where, Gil suddenly noted, dozens more lay. Obviously the events of the last day had interfered with the pensioners whose daily job it was to wind them. “Many people are going to be upset, Father.”

“Beetle was loved by the populace,” Klaus admitted. “But more in the abstract. He did not interact with the general populace on a day-to-day basis. Therefore our question is who would be
so
upset that it would trigger a
breakthrough?”
He grinned wolfishly.
“That
is the mystery, and soon enough we shall know the answer!”

Adam and Lilith hurried through the meager crowd in front of the shops along Market Street. Their dark clothing, while a bit somber, did not stand out as much as their size. However people in the district were used to the oversized couple, and no longer gave them much thought. Adam looked glum. Lilith, being able to give voice to her annoyance, was more animated in her displeasure. “Fruitless!” she grumbled. “We’ve wasted a good part of yesterday and an entire night thanks to those stupid Jägerkin and no one knew
anything
about the locket
or
the thieves.” She looked at the dawn sky with trepidation. “We must leave the city at
once
and get as far away as possible. I’m guessing that we have a week at
best
before…”

A subtle change of the pressure on her arm caused her to look at her husband in annoyance. “Adam, you’re not listening to a word I’m—”

This was all too true, as Adam’s head had snapped back at a booming noise that was getting closer. Effortlessly he swept up the startled Lilith and hurled them both to one side just as the clank, its smokestack pouring forth clouds of black smoke thundered past them. Raising themselves up, they were just in time to see a squad of Jägermonsters fly past, howling. Purely by chance, Adam’s eyes locked with that of an older Jäger, who grinned widely at them before running on.

Sweat started out on Adam’s forehead. Lilith pulled herself up, her eyes wide with realization. “Was that… That was Herr Ketter’s
tractor!”
The full ramifications of what they had seen caused her face to go white.
“Agatha!”
she cried.

Agatha was furiously scrubbing her hands in the big zinc tub when a pained groan came from the figure on the floor. She was a bit unsure about what she should do. Normally, of course, she’d have summoned the Watch, but as the only law enforcement lay in the hands of the Wulfenbachs, she’d decided that it would be easiest to wait for Adam and Lilith to return. She had hoped they would do so before the man had revived, but obviously it was not to be. She decided to go on the offensive. “Finally waking up, eh?”

Moloch rolled over and tried to move his arms, but found them tied behind him. He sagged in despair. “Ow. My face. Ow.”

Agatha came over and grasped his chin and examined the lump there. “It’s not broken. You’ll live.” She hefted the wrench she held in her other hand menacingly. “But I’ll smack you
again
unless you tell me what you
did
here.”

Moloch looked at her ruefully. “I woke you up. Not really a morning person, are you?”

“No, I mean, why did you bring me down to the shop? Why did you
trash
the place?”

Moloch looked genuinely surprised. “I did
not!
You were already here asleep on that bench and the place looked like this when I
got
here. Even the door was open.”

Agatha frowned. “Then who—?”At that moment the great doors swung open and the doorway was filled by an enormous clank that stepped within the forge and paused. Agatha dropped her wrench. Moloch tried to scramble away, but got tangled in the coil of rope, and he tumbled backwards. A small part of Agatha’s brain noted with alarm that Moloch had managed to surreptitiously slip his bonds.

Before he could disentangle himself, the clank’s arm snapped out and the metal hand snatched the soldier up, kicking and squealing. It swung him up towards its sensors and a bright flash filled the gloomy shop accompanied by Moloch’s scream of terror. Several seconds of whirring and clicking within the depths of the machine suddenly resulted in an array of green lights blooming across its front. A small bell rang and the arm gently swung Moloch down and offered him to a bewildered Agatha, who backed away. As she did so, the machine followed her, jogging its hand encouragingly. Agatha shook her head. “What? What do you want?”

Moloch caught her attention. It was obvious that he was being squeezed rather tightly, if the way his eyes were bugging out was any indication. “Help,” he whispered.

Agatha blinked. “I… ah… down! Put him
down
.”

Gently the device deposited a shaken Moloch onto the floor of the shop, dinged twice, and ceased all movement. Agatha and Moloch stared at it for a moment, but it did nothing else. Moloch turned towards Agatha. “What
is
this thing?”