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“Before you head out, I have one last thing for you to load.”
Liberty stopped in mid-step and turned to face Shatter. “What? I have everything I need loaded.”
For the first time since she had been dealing with the tough-old coot, Shatter appeared uncertain. He furiously scratched at the gray stubble on the side of his face and hemmed and hawed for a couple of seconds before finally blurting, “You’ll have to come and see for yourself. He’s in the back, sweeping.”
What was the old man up to? It was getting late and she should already be in the air already. Liberty’s first thought was to pretend she hadn’t heard, and leave, but when he headed toward the storage room, she followed. He stopped without warning and she plowed headfirst into his bony shoulder blades.
Liberty stifled a curse and pushed her red curls out of eyes to get a better look around the cluttered room. She suspected Shatter’s idea of organization was to toss things in and see where they landed. Grime and dust covered everything, and the only light in the room came from a couple of narrow windows near the ceiling. Since the sunlight was quickly fading, she could barely make out anything in the dimness.
At first she didn’t see anything of interest until a movement, followed by the clicking of metal on metal, caught her attention. Liberty stared but did not understand what she was seeing. Whatever moved and whirled was the size of a small child but with metal legs and arms. A ball of glass sat where the head should’ve been. It wasn’t until the thing blinked and took a step forward that Liberty finally understood it was a robot.
Shatter waved it over. “Come here, Boy.”
Liberty took a step back when the robot obeyed.
Shatter spoke over his shoulder to her. “That’s his name, Boy. Tinker make him the year after your father found you abandoned during one of his flyby trips. I don’t think Tinker knew how lonely he was until your father dropped by with you and stayed for a long visit.”
Boy clicked and clinked across the wooden floor, dragging a broom along behind him. Liberty at last overcame her surprise and asked, “So what do you have that I need to load onto Airus? It’s getting dark and I still haven’t replaced that pressure valve yet. If I don’t get back soon, I won’t have enough light to do the work until the morning. I can’t keep Airus grounded overnight. You know as well as I do how dangerous that would be.”
Shatter pulled at the collar of his shirt, as if it were suddenly too tight. “Boy showed up here out of the blue with a note, day before yesterday. Tinker wants you to take Boy with you.” Shatter scratched the side of his nose and avoided looking at Liberty.
Her mouth silently opened and closed before she finally spluttered, “What?” She looked back at the robot. It stood just a couple of feet away, still holding the broom.
Shatter nodded at Boy. “Tinker wrote that since your father’s death you’ve been alone. He thought Boy could be of some help, and it would keep him from being used for spare parts.” He leaned closer to Liberty and whispered. “Just between the two of us, I think Tinker might be a little off his rocker.” He chuckled. “But then who isn’t? You have to be a little crazy to survive in these conditions. After the devastation caused by The Great War, there’s only a handful of people still alive, as you well know, if you can call this living.”
Liberty backed out of the doorway. “I can’t take a robot. What the hell would I do with him? There’s only so much sweeping that can be done on an airship, and besides, I can barely take care of myself. What do I know about looking after a robot?”
She was ready to bolt when a small voice stopped her. “Please.”
Liberty looked down at it. “What?”
Boy pointed his metal fingers at her. “Please. My father’s dead. He told me you would be my sister.”
All Liberty’s inner voices screamed at her not to be sucked in by the sight of Boy’s large, soulful metal eyes. How had Tinker managed to make those thin strips of metal so expressive? The thing was just a pile of glass and metal made to resemble a child, but the longer she stared into its eyes, the more her common sense crumbled. Damn. Another problem she didn’t need. Well, at least she wouldn’t have to feed it, but it would need a good oiling every once in a while. One small voice broke away from the crowd in her head and whispered, “He’ll need to be wound up every day, just like clockwork. “ She countered that with, “I guess I can spare a few seconds to do that. Maybe I can find something for him to do on board. “
Damn. She was going to go against her better judgment and take the pile of junk with her. She turned to Shatter. “Okay.” She sighed and motioned for Boy to follow. Before she left, though, she said. “But if it turns into more trouble than its worth, I’m dumping it the first chance I get.” She didn’t bother waiting for an answer but hurried out to Airus. She was well aware Boy was following close behind, because its joints clicked with each step it took. That racket was sure as hell going to get annoying after a while.
If she’d had all night to sit around and watch the hilarious sight of Boy attempting to climb the rope ladder, Liberty wouldn’t have given in and helped haul him aboard. As entertaining as that might have been, there was still too much to do.
Before Liberty headed below deck, she told Boy, “Keep an eye out and tell me if you see anyone getting close to the airship. Do you think you can do that?”
“Yes, Sister.”
There wasn’t time to debate the fact she wasn’t his sister, so Liberty headed down to get her toolbox. The job with the valves turned out to be more difficult than she first thought because the old seals had melted into place. For an hour, she scrapped the burned rubber off two of the four pistons.
Pieces lay everywhere on deck when the sun set. Liberty tried working in the dusk light but finally had to admit defeat, resigning herself to the fact that in spite of the danger she would have to stay grounded until the next day.
Liberty was throwing the tools back into their box when Boy walked over. She rocked back onto her heels. “There’s not enough light left, so I’m going to have to finish this in the morning. You up to helping me keep guard all night? It shouldn’t be possible to sneak aboard without the ladder, so we should be okay. We can’t take any chances, though.”
Boy blinked a couple of times but didn’t answer. He turned toward the pressure tank, and without warning, two beams of light shot out from his eyes.
Liberty jumped up. “No way! How long can you keep that up for?”
The lights flickered when Boy blinked. “For as long as you need the light.”
She shielded her eyes from the glare of his own and grinned. “Let’s get to work then.”