Clockwork Heart (33 page)

“This is a field decision. I will clear it with him later.” Amcathra was as stone-faced as ever. “I recommend you do not speak to your brother without another lictor present, and if you do speak to him, do not promise him anything you cannot deliver.”

“I understand.” Cristof slid the wallet away. “Thank you, Janos.”

“Why are you still here?”

Taya grinned at Cristof as they headed out the University gate. “Are those papers what I think they are?”

“My credentials. I'm back on the job.” He sounded pleased, although he was clearly trying to hide it.

“He was going to give them back to you all along, wasn't he? How long have you been friends?”

“He's my supervisor, Taya. Not my friend.”

“Men.” Taya laughed. “So, what are we going to do now?”

He stopped outside the University gates and looked askance at her crutches.

“I need to deliver the lieutenant's messages and start investigating these leads. I'm going to be running all over the city. How do you feel?”

“Tired,” she admitted. “And my leg's starting to hurt, but I'm not supposed to take any medicine for another half an hour.”

“I'm sorry.” He frowned. “Maybe you should rest for a few hours. It's not that I don't want your company, but you might hurt yourself trying to keep up with me.”

“I'm not going to go stuff mail bags.”

“They'll give you the day off, won't they?”

“I don't want to sit around the eyrie all day, either.” Taya let her gaze climb up the side of the mountain, over stacks of houses and shops to the mansions of Primus. The stubborn part of her wanted to stay with Cristof, but the practical part knew that she'd only slow him down. “Do you think Viera's ready for visitors yet?”

“I'm sure she'd like to see you. Should I look for you there?”

“I don't think I'll stay long. I might go to that bar Lars mentioned, the Pickled something. Is there any reason I can't tell the team about Kyle?”

“You'd better not. We don't have any proof that he's involved. That hair and blood could have come from a janitor or one of the engineering team. It's too early to tell.”

“But—”

“Please, Taya. There's no sense alarming his friends if he's visiting his mother or spending the day with his girlfriend, is there?”

Taya wasn't so sure Kyle had a girlfriend, but she let it pass. “Okay, but if you haven't found anything by this evening…”

“I'll find you, and we'll talk about it.”

“Promise?”

“I promise.”

“Good.” Taya leaned on her crutch and touched his face. “No matter how late.”

He nodded, looking preoccupied. “Take a hack and charge it to me if you have to.”

Taya sighed and dropped her hand. Whatever romantic stirrings Cristof had felt earlier that day had vanished in the excitement of the new case.

“What's wrong?” He blinked, focusing on her again.

“Nothing,” she said, ruefully. “I'll see you later.”

Viera Octavus welcomed Taya with relief. As Cristof had warned, she was still furious with Alister.

“My family took him in when his parents died,” Viera raged. “I looked up to him as though he were my own brother. And when I got married, I welcomed him into my house, fed him at my table — and he betrayed me!”

Taya nodded, watching the exalted pace back and forth across the parlor. She'd seen Viera take a dose of something medicinal, but it hadn't done much to calm her down.

“I don't blame you for being angry,” she said. “He betrayed a lot of people.”

At last Viera dropped back onto her sofa, wiping her eyes with a handkerchief.

“I wish he'd died with Caster,” she said at last. “It would have been easier if they'd both been victims. Finding out he killed my husband… it's like losing him all over again.”

Taya didn't ask which ‘him' she meant. Instead, she pushed out of her chair and limped over to sit next to Viera.

“I wish I could help. I'm sorry I've brought so much pain to you.”

Viera shook her head.

“It's not your fault. I'm glad Alister was caught. I hate it, but I'm glad for it.”

Taya nodded, understanding.

“You can't stay away,” Viera added. “I've already lost too many people.”

“As long as you want me to keep visiting, I will,” Taya promised.

She left two hours later, sobered and depressed. What would have happened if she'd agreed to Alister's ruse and pretended he'd survived the explosion? Viera and Cristof both would be happier, and Alister wouldn't be under a sentence of death. She thrust the thought away. No. One way or the other, the lie would have come out and destroyed them. It wouldn't have been possible to keep the secret forever, and it would have made her an accomplice to his crimes.

“Taya!”

She looked up and saw Cassi sitting on top of a hack, her ondium wings bright in the afternoon sun. Taya limped across the street and saw that her friend had found Gregor and Bolt.

Cassi hopped down and gave her a quick hug, careful not to jab her with the armature's ondium keel.

“I got your note,” she said. “Took me a while to find you, though. I ran into your exalted and he told me you were either up here or at some punch-jockey bar. He asked me to make sure you were staying off your leg, so I rounded up your favorite coach.”

“Thanks.” Taya turned to Gregor. “Can I put you on retainer for a day or two?”

“Of course.” The coachman smiled.

“I appreciate it. If I don't have enough money with me—”

“We'll settle up later, then.” Gregor slid from his seat and opened the hack's doors, letting the folding steps clatter down to the cobblestones.

“I found Exalted Forlore down at one of the gates, and he bought me a cup of tea. I thought he was just going to thank me for yesterday, but as soon as we sat down, he started asking questions.” Cassi grinned. “He looked like he was in a hurry, but I think he couldn't resist the chance to investigate you.”

“Me?”

“Uh-huh. He grilled me for ten minutes, fidgeting constantly, and then he shot out the door without even saying goodbye. Do you like him?”

“What do you mean, he grilled you? What did he want to know?”

“Oh, the usual. What kind of flowers do you like, how many boyfriends have you had, what's your favorite color, how many boyfriends have you had, what kind of jewelry do you like, how many boyfriends have you had…”

Taya groaned, covering her face with her hands.

“I think he's a prude,” Cassi concluded, sounding cheerful. “He looks like a prude.”

“He's not a prude! Well, maybe he is. What did you tell him?”

“That you like irises, you look good in blue, and you hardly wear any jewelry at all.”

Taya dropped her hands and swatted her friend across the head.

“The boyfriends! What did you tell him about the boyfriends?”

Cassi laughed.

“I told him every man in the eyrie adores you and it wasn't any of his business how many boyfriends you've had, because if he doesn't respect you for who you are now, he doesn't deserve to have you.”

Taya stared at her friend, then let out a long breath.

“I love you.”

“I know.” Cassi sounded smug. “And you better remember that answer if anyone asks you about me.”

“I will,” Taya promised, fervently.

“So, do you like him?”

“He used to be kind of a pain, but….”

“That's a ‘yes.'”

“That's a ‘there's hope.' We haven't had much quiet time together, and I'm worried about how he's going to handle his brother being sentenced. He's the kind of man who'd rather pull away than open up.”

“Aren't they all.” Cassi patted her arm. “Hey, no worries. Third time's the charm, right?”

Taya made a face.

“Well, you hated the last two guys I was serious about. What do you think about Cris?”

Cassi shrugged, her silver wings rippling.

“He's smart. Intense. Stressed.”

Taya nodded.

“Not ugly,” her friend continued, “but not as cute as the other two. That's probably a good thing. He won't count on his looks to get him what he wants.”

“I don't think he expects to get anything.”

“Probably comes from living out of caste. I have to admit, seeing his marks out in the open like that is pretty creepy.”

“He said he's not going to wear a mask again.”

“That'd be better for you. And, you know, it's a good sign that he was asking about your boyfriends. If all he wanted was a mistress, he wouldn't care, right?”

“You think so?” Taya looked hopefully at her friend.

“Your friend's right, she is,” Gregor said. Both women jumped, regarding him with startled indignation. The coachman looked apologetic. “I'd no intention of eavesdropping but, you know, there ain't a man in the world cares about a woman's past until he's thinking of her in his future. That's when a man starts considering repute and reliability, now, ain't it?”

“So you've got nothing to worry about,” Cassi assured Taya. “If I were him, I'd be more worried about my own reputation. The guy's an outcaste clockmaker with two murderers in the family. He's going to have to be one awfully sweet boyfriend to be worth your time.”

“He's working on it,” Taya said, with a half-smile.

“He'd better be. Don't settle for second best.”

“That would have been Alister.”

“Are you ready to go, then, Icarus?” Gregor asked. Taya collected her thoughts.

“Yes. To the hospital on Secundus.” She gave him directions. “Cassi, take off your armature so we can talk on the way over.”

“I'm supposed to be working.” Cassi glanced up toward the docking cliffs, then shrugged. “I guess they won't miss me for a few more minutes.”

They maneuvered Cassi's wings into the hack with some effort and contorted themselves around the unwieldy armature as the coach rattled down to Secundus. Taya filled her friend in about the stolen analytical engine and the missing programmer.

“Are you sure this doesn't have anything to do with Alister Forlore? I mean, it's a pretty big coincidence, if you ask me. Secret programs, analytical engines…”

“I think this theft has been planned for a long time, and the thieves took advantage of the confusion around Alister's arrest to make their move.”

Cassi frowned. “So, what can Pyke and I do?”

“Keep your eyes open for any wagon with lots of crates in it that might be moving around at an odd time of the day, or any activity around buildings that might usually be empty. Lictors only see everything sector by sector, but we see the whole city. If we keep an eye out—”

“Won't they already have military icarii looking around?”

“Sure, but they don't know the city the way we do.”

“So if we see something suspicious, alert the authorities.”

“Right. And Pyke's got all his spooky conspiracy contacts, right? Maybe he can get something from them.”

“Maybe.” Cassi drew the word out. “Okay, I'll ask around.”

“But don't tell anyone that an engine's missing. Not until the lictors release the information.”

“No problem.”

The coach slowed and pulled over in front of the same hospital Taya had visited with Lieutenant Amcathra a few days before.

Cassi slid out and buckled on her armature. “I'll look for you at that punch-jockey bar later on?”

“Could you bring my armature with you? Just in case I don't make it back to the eyrie?”

“If I can get it out of the shop.” Cassi pulled on her flight gloves. “You be careful, okay? Don't let anyone else shoot at you.”

A nurse directed Taya to the hospital room where she found the Demican sitting up in a chair playing cards with his guard.

“Excuse me,” Taya said, standing in the doorway. “May I come in?”

The lictor frowned, setting down her cards, as the Demican regarded her crutches with open curiosity.

“The little warrior has met her match?” he asked, not unkindly, in Demican.

“The man who shot me is dead,” Taya replied in Demican. She wasn't proud of it, but it was the response that would most impress him. As she expected, he laughed with appreciation.

“Good. That is the best fate for a man who would use a gun on his prey.”

“I am glad to see you are healing,” she continued, studying him.

“It seems my spirit will not be visiting you on Darkday.”

“Excuse me,” the lictor said with annoyance, “but who are you?”

“I'm Taya Icarus,” Taya replied, dropping into Ondinan again. “I was responsible for putting this man into the hospital, and I wanted to see how he was doing.”

“Taya Icarus.” The lictor's voice was cool. “So I guess this man was the lucky one, huh?”

“Yeah.” Taya winced, then turned to the Demican and began to speak in his language again. “The two Alzanans you were working with — did they ever mention anything about stealing one of the city's metal brains?” It was the closest Demican came to ‘analytical engine.'

“They talked about stealing many things. Your wings, ‘punch cards'” —he used the Ondinan words, so heavily accented they were almost meaningless— “people, metal brains, weapons. I should have known better than to work with scavengers.”

“Did they talk to anyone else about their plans?”

“Other Alzanans.”

“Where?”

“In Slagside, in the place with the red door that I told you of earlier.”

Taya chewed on her lip. Had Amcathra followed up that lead? Maybe, but the wireferry bombing happened immediately afterward.

“Icarus, unless you have clearance to talk to this prisoner, you should leave,” the lictor insisted.