The Flame House stood on the northern edge of Lunae City, where the Martian Nile, which had been traveling almost directly north until then, swung to the northeast to make its long way to the sea. We were almost a mile from the museum, but even as we approached our small estate, I could still hear shouts and explosions from the city. The militiamen were making a fight of it, but they weren’t going to win.
“We need to be quick,” I said. “Five minutes, no longer. Putty, you go and find your governess. The rest of us need to find Mama.”
Putty gave me an appalled look. “I’m not getting my governess! She’s a spy and she deserves to be left behind. I’m going to get my stuff.” Without waiting for an answer, she turned on her heel and dashed into the house.
“Let her go,” Olivia said. “Miss Wilkins is probably with Mama anyway.”
“We should split up,” I said. “Papa, you and Olivia search the ground floor. Jane, if there’s anything important you need, find it. I’ll—”
“Go with Mina?” Olivia said, raising an eyebrow.
I blushed furiously and glared at Olivia. “Shall we just get on with this?”
* * *
Searching the Flame House was not the easiest job in the world. There were places in which even I could get lost or stuck or possibly eaten by a stray, hungry corridor. Luckily, Mama kept very strictly to only a few reasonably respectable rooms. Mina and I searched for Mama in her bedroom and dressing room without luck and were heading for the nursery when I heard Papa calling. His voice sounded urgent.
“Something’s up,” Mina said.
“Something’s always up with this family,” I said as we hurried along a hallway. “You get used to it.”
“Do you always get attacked by armed men and deadly machines?” Mina asked.
“More often than you’d think.” I sighed. “You’re right. Let’s find out what’s going on.”
Papa was in his study when we finally made it through the maze of the Flame House.
“What is it?” I called as I burst in. “Is it Mama?”
Papa glanced back at me, a distracted expression on his face. “What? No. She’s in her drawing room with Miss Wilkins. This is far more important! I’ve been burgled. Look!”
I peered past him. His study was in chaos. Papers were scattered everywhere. Books lay open in piles on the floor and chairs and desk.
“I thought it always looked like this,” I said.
Papa drew himself up. “I know exactly where every single piece of paper is in the study. Someone has been in here and moved everything.”
“Putty?” I suggested.
“Parthenia is a more careful burglar than that. She knows to put things back where she found them. In any case, nothing has been taken from here.” He crossed to the back of the room, stepping around the slumped stacks of paper. “It is my safe.” He pushed aside a portrait and swung open the safe door. “See? The lock has been burned out. It would take a powerful acid to eat through the metal. My papers have been taken.” He rubbed a tired hand across his eyes. “My most important work. The plans for my improved water abacus. My theories on photonic storage. My thesis on the history of spring power in the Third Age. All of it is gone.”
“I’m sorry, Papa,” I said, “but we have rather more important things to worry about right now.”
Papa’s forehead furrowed. “You don’t understand, Edward. The plans for my water abacus have been stolen. The Emperor Napoleon will get hold of them now, one way or another. This is bad, Edward.”
I glanced toward the window. Dr. Blood’s men and machines weren’t in sight yet, but they would be soon.
“How long?” I said.
“I beg your pardon?”
“How long until Napoleon can make use of the designs?”
Papa rubbed at his eyeglasses. “A month to get the designs to Earth along the dragon paths. Six months to install water abacuses in his machines of war if his mechanicians are good, and they are good. The emperor has always understood the potential of Martian technology, which is why he has been able to conquer most of Earth. Another month for an invading force to travel back to Mars, if he holds the dragon path terminals by then. Eight months. Less than a year, certainly.”
“Eight months.” I shook my head. “Then we can worry about it another time. Right now we don’t have eight minutes before Apprentice gets here.” I took Papa’s elbow. “I really am sorry, Papa, but we have to get Mama and we have to leave. Now.”
* * *
Mama was waiting in her drawing room with Olivia, Jane, Mr. Davidson, and Miss Wilkins. She was sitting so straight and stiff it looked like someone had glued a board to her back. Jane had an oddly shaped bag between her feet. I’d assumed she would want to bring half a dozen gowns, but this was something else.
“What is the meaning of this, Edward?” Mama snapped. “Hugo? Olivia tells me we must leave the house. It is absurd. I have no intention of leaving my home.” She turned her eye on Mina. “And who, pray, is this? Is she here begging?”
I closed my eyes. Why? Why did Mama have to be like this? I’d never introduced a girl to her before—not that this really counted, what with Apprentice trying to blow us to atoms—and when I did, she acted like this? All I wanted to do was stick my head in a bucket.
“That is hardly fair, madam,” Mina said. “I am not a beggar.” She smiled sweetly. “I am a thief.”
Mama’s jaw dropped. Serves you right, I thought and had to stop myself from grinning.
“Olivia’s telling the truth,” I said. “The house is about to be attacked. We need to leave. Right now.”
“I have never heard such a thing!” Mama said. “Where do you propose we go? I will not stay in a hotel.”
“We’ve got a boat.” I glanced around the room. “Has anyone seen Putty?”
“Behind you.” She darted into the drawing room, carrying a heavy-looking bag. “Why are we all still here?”
“The children are right, Caroline,” Papa said. “We must leave immediately. There can be no discussion.” At Mama’s rebellious expression, he added, “I insist.”
Mama rose hesitantly. “I will not leave without my valuables.”
“I have taken the liberty,” Papa said, indicating a valise by the door.
“And I have Parthenia’s bag packed,” Miss Wilkins said.
Putty looked startled. “You do?”
“You may find it hard to believe, Parthenia,” Miss Wilkins said, “but it is my job to keep you safe and under control, and I am very good at my job. Do not imagine that I did not fully understand the history of this family when I accepted your mother’s offer. I am always prepared.”
Putty shot me a wounded look as we headed for the door as though to say, You see what I have to deal with?
We followed Papa and Mama out of the house, across the terrace, toward the lawns that led down to the Martian Nile.
“I’m not suitably dressed for this,” I heard Mama complain.
I pulled Putty to one side. “What have you got in there?” I demanded, pointing at her bag.
“My dragon’s egg,” she said defiantly.
I stared at her. “We’re running for our lives, and you bring a stone egg?”
“I’m not letting Apprentice and Dr. Blood have it.”
“Leave it,” Mina said urgently. “You won’t be able to run with it. It’ll slow you down.” She looked around. “Put it here.” She pointed to a table on the edge of the terrace. “It’ll be out of harm’s way and you can get it when you come back.”
Putty’s jaw tightened. “I’m not leaving it! It’s mine. And I can still run faster than the rest of you.” She jogged a couple of paces forward. “See?”
“Fine,” I said. “Then prove it by running to the river door and seeing if Rackham is there yet.”
“This isn’t a good idea,” Mina murmured as Putty ran off, the bag banging awkwardly against her hip.
“There’s no point arguing with Putty,” I said. “Not unless you want to waste your whole day.” I looked back toward the high roofs of Lunae City. The shouting and explosions had ended. In the still, hot, desert air, clouds of dust slowly rose, becoming thin and tattered and finally drifting away.
“They’re on their way,” Mina said. “I’ll go and look out for Rackham, too.” She took off at a trot, heading after Putty.
“Your friend seems nice,” Jane said from behind me. She’d come up while I was talking to Mina. I gave her a hard look. Jane considered everyone nice, but I thought I detected a touch of sarcasm. Or maybe I was being too sensitive.
Jane had been walking with Mr. Davidson, but he’d hurried forward to talk to Papa.
“It’s a long story,” I said. I glanced at the bag she was carrying. “And what have you got in your bag? I hope it’s more useful than Putty’s dragon’s egg.”
Jane looked around nervously. “Books,” she said quietly.
I stared. “More books?” What had happened to Jane? “What is it this time? More history?”
She shook her head. “Sir Isaac Newton’s Principia and Sidney Smith’s Ancient Martian Calculus.” She snuck a look at Mr. Davidson.
Ah. That was it?
“You’re doing this to impress him?”
“No! Mr. Davidson has nothing to do with this.” She winced. “You can’t tell Mama. You really can’t.”
I nodded, mystified.
She sighed. “Mama always told me that if I wanted to attract the best husband, I must have more admirers than any other lady. I must be more charming, more beautiful, and more talented, and I must never make a young man think that I am more intelligent than him. But I am tired of it, Edward. I am tired of being held up as some bauble to every eligible young man on Mars, of being part of a game for young men who are no more constant in their affections than I have been in mine. I fear … I fear that I have never been in love.”
I blinked. “You?” Jane fell in love three times a week. Didn’t she?
“Not truly. I have felt but it was always … it was always that game, Edward. Now I have seen Olivia and Freddie in love, and I have never felt anything like that, not with any of those young men. Mr. Davidson is different. He is a scholar.”
I shook my head. “So now you’re in love with him.”
“No. You’re not listening, Edward. I believe Mr. Davidson is someone I could talk to about more substantive things. I am not in love with him, but when I do fall in love, I would like it to be with someone who would be more interested in discussing natural philosophy than in showering me with empty compliments.”
I peered at her. “You’re serious, aren’t you?”
She straightened, and I saw a glimpse of that same stubborn determination I so often saw in Putty’s eyes. For some reason, it gave me a chill. I looked back over my shoulder toward the city.
“Come on,” I said. “We need to hurry it up.”
* * *
Putty and Mina were waiting on the other side of the river door as we reached the end of our garden.
“Any sign of him?” I called.
Mina shook her head. “Nothing.”
I cursed.
I’d hoped there would be a lot of boats on the river so we could slip away, but it was empty. The water had risen noticeably since this morning, creeping up the bank, over the lower of the steps that led down to the river. The Inundation must be closer than I’d thought.
I wondered if we’d be able to hide down here by the river when Apprentice came. If we crouched down on the riverbank in the shadow of the wall, maybe they wouldn’t spot us.
Papa led Mama through the door. I pulled it closed, cutting off the view of the Flame House, and locked it with the heavy iron key.
“We’re out of time,” Mina whispered. The feeling of her breath on my ear made me shiver. She nodded toward Lunae City. There, rising above the rooftops, came the fliers.
“They won’t see us,” I said. “Yet.” But the moment they reached the estate we’d be exposed. A couple of balloon-palms hung over the bank, their air-filled leaves drooping toward the rising river. Maybe one or two of us could hide beneath them.
The fliers would aim for the house. Apprentice’s men would search it first. That would take time. The Flame House was a maze, as well as a hazard. If we were lucky, Apprentice would break his neck in there.
But eventually they would spread out. We couldn’t stay here.
The fliers were growing in the deep blue of the desert sky. The thrum of their copter blades sounded like the rapid heartbeats of some great monster from the Martian wilderness.
I dropped down, my back pressed against the sandstone wall, and scanned the river. A couple of small boats had appeared on the river, but they were heading the wrong way and neither was paying any attention to us.
Rackham had lied. He’d tricked us, or he’d gotten cold feet and fled. I reached out and gripped Mina’s hand. She looked startled, then squeezed back. At least she hadn’t abandoned us.
Between Mina, Putty, Olivia, and me, perhaps we could think of something. Anything.
The sound of copter blades reached a crescendo behind us. Then, with a roar, one of the fliers swept out over the river, curving around. The downdraft sent patterns skittering across the surface.
“They’ve seen us!” Mina shouted.
The flier swooped around again, passing over us, then coming to a halt, hovering over the river, fifty yards away. It turned slowly until it was pointing directly at us.
“Move!” I shouted, hauling at Mama and Papa. We’d never all get out of here before it could fire. We’d never get through the door, and even if we did, the other flier would be waiting.
Portholes slid open in the flier’s front.
An enormous metal boat came sliding around the bend in the river, moving fast with scarcely a ripple on the water. It was the gigantic ironclad that Putty and I had seen tied up at the docks when we’d gone looking for Captain Kol. It was as tall as a house, with twin funnels sloping back from the rear half. Powerful engines drove it smoothly through the river.
Black lines sprang from its side, like a hundred spears shot from giant bows.
The hovering flier was snatched from the air and thrown back with the force of a hurricane, splintering as it tumbled. Fragments of shattered metal rained down into the river over a hundred yards away.
Putty let out a whoop. “Did you see that? Did you see that?”
“We could hardly miss it,” Mina said. She sounded like she’d lost her breath.
The ship turned and slid close to the bank. The sound of the other flier had gone, but there were shouts from behind the wall.
A metal gangplank emerged from the side of the ship with a whir of cogs.
A door opened on the deck, and Rackham emerged. “Hurry!” he called. “You’re not safe yet.”
I pushed Putty at the gangplank. She skipped her way on board, and Jane and Olivia followed. Mr. Davidson wobbled his way across on legs that seemed to be made of wet noodles. I was certain he was going to topple into the Martian Nile, but Jane reached out a hand and pulled him to safety.
“I will not go on that thing,” Mama exclaimed. “This is ridiculous, Hugo. It is undignified.”
Something smashed against the river door. Planks shattered and bowed outward. One of the hinges snapped. Mama shrieked.
An armored face appeared at the gap. I snatched up a stone and flung it at the man. Despite the thick glass protecting his face, he flinched away, and I shoved the door back into position.
Another blow and it would be destroyed.
Mama, Papa, and Miss Wilkins were all on the gangplank now, creeping slowly across.
“Got anything left?” I asked, nodding at Mina’s bag.
She shook her head. “I’m out of tricks.”
A whine started behind the wall, like a flywheel spinning up.
I met Mina’s eyes. She took my hand again. Together we leaped from the riverbank.
Behind us, the wall exploded.
The force of the explosion threw us through the air. A fragment of stone punched into my back, kicking the air from my chest. If I hadn’t already been jumping, it might have shattered my ribs. Instead I hit the river still gasping for air. Water swirled into my throat, but I had no air in me to cough it out. My lungs shrieked.
Mina’s arm curled around me, pulling me up. I burst from the surface, gasped in air, and coughed out water. I could hardly see.
“You’re all right,” Mina shouted into my ear. “You’re all right.”
A rope smacked the river beside us, and Mina grasped it.
I blinked water from my eyes as the rope tugged us from the river and up the high metal side of the ship. My back was in agony.
The gangplank was rolling back in. Mama, Papa, and Miss Wilkins had reached the safety of the deck. On the shore, a line of men in clockwork armor stood watching, Apprentice in their center. They made no move to raise weapons.
A hand reached down and hauled me on board.
“I told you I had a boat,” Rackham said.