When she first put the Freddie mask on James, they both laughed until they could hardly stand. It was too strange to see James transformed into Freddie. He had managed to pick up some of Freddie’s mannerisms and his tone, if not his exact voice.
When they left their hotel, James kept his face covered with a muffler. The landlady was so concerned for his health that she forced some truly horrific smelling lozenges on Faith. And she hugged and kissed Faith. “If you don’t have a wee one within the year, I’ll be surprised,” the woman said and winked at Faith. Faith blushed. The old woman laughed and wished them a life of luck.
They got into their hired car and once inside, James unwrapped his face. James stared ahead, hardly blinking. Faith clutched the steering wheel.
“I can’t stand this,” Faith said. “Talk, please. For the love of everything, talk.”
“About what?”
“What do you think about marriage? I mean, if we get out of this. When we get out of this,” Faith said.
“Are you serious?”
“Of course, I’m serious! Why wouldn’t I be serious?” Faith stretched her fingers. She tried not to grip the wheel quite so tightly. She glanced at him.
“You’ll want to turn up here. Left,” James said, pointing. “Because that was the angriest marriage proposal ever. And backwards! It should be me asking you.”
“Well?”
“Yes! What about you? Don’t you want children, a home? A normal husband? Who’s actually real?”
“I want you. The rest—we can figure out.”
James covered his face or rather his Freddie mask and laughed. “This is not how I pictured this moment.”
“But you want to?”
“Yes! Pull over.”
Faith pulled the car over to the side of the road and turned it off. She turned to face James. “I’m not kidding around. I really want to marry you,” Faith said. He shook his head, but he was smiling. She kissed him. “But we have to do one thing first.”
“Yes. We have to save the world. Easy.”
At the gate to Brice’s, James spoke into a device like a telephone. The huge gates swung open. Faith drove through the gates and down the long drive. Trees stood on either side of them. In spring, when it would all be green, it would be beautiful. At first, they couldn’t see the house, but as they crested a hill, the house—really manor—appeared in the distance.
James made a sound almost like a gasp. Faith reached out to him. For a moment, he held her hand to his heart, but it was too awkward to drive like that.
At the house, a man met the car and held out his hand for the keys. Without a word, he took the car away. Faith looked at James. He held her gaze and then nodded. Together, they stepped forward.
As they walked up the sweeping staircase to the giant doors, Faith took deep breaths to calm the shaking. If their disguises weren’t going to work, it would only take a moment to find out. This was the most dangerous time in an operation. They’d planned everything else so carefully, but if Brice suspected them, there’d be no plan to go to. They’d have to improvise and fight their way out. She was aware of the gun loaded with metal-piercing bullets and the knife held in her garters.
“Freddie! Good to see you,” Brice said, hand held out, ready to shake theirs. When he came to Faith, he clasped his free hand over their joined hands. “And finally, I get to meet the lovely Cissy. I’ve heard so much about you. My groom has horses ready for you to choose from tomorrow morning.”
“You’re too kind,” Faith said.
“I heard that you’re an excellent horsewoman. I don’t have enough time to ride my horses. It’ll do them good to have someone who can put them through the paces. Come! Let me give you the tour!”
After a while, having been led through many wood-panelled rooms, Faith found it all blurring into one. She followed along with James’ map in her mind, but it was like a giant, tapestry-filled maze.
As they passed through the library, James tipped his head towards a door in the corner. Brice didn’t take them through that door. There was the target. She tried to place it in the geography of the house as Brice led them towards their room.
When left in their room to change for dinner, Faith knew there’d be nothing like the night before. They were now at work and had to be focused. She couldn’t think of what would happen after. But she watched James take off his travel clothes and change into a dinner jacket that Freddie had loaned him. She knew James was watching her too. She wanted to touch him, but she couldn’t, not if they were to keep their heads.
“Faith,” James said as he stared into a mirror while tying his bowtie, “I—” His fingers fumbled with the fabric. Faith nudged him to turn to face her rather than the mirror and she pushed his hands away from the tie. She avoided looking in his eyes as she tied it.
“There,” she said and brushed non-existent lint from his shoulders and lapels. He caught her hands in his.
“These last few days have been the best days in my life since the start of the war,” he said. It was odd hearing his voice and seeing his bright eyes in Freddie’s face. The incongruity sent her into hysterical giggles.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “It’s just—Freddie’s face!”
He laughed too. “You’re spoiling the moment. Or rather, Freddie is. Look, Faith, you deserve more than a man who’s just a brain and gears, but—after, if we can—”
She nodded. “Yes, after.” She kissed him quickly, just a peck on the lips and then pulled her hands away gently. She held out her arm. “Walk me into dinner.”
When they entered the dining room, Brice stood and invited them to be seated. Faith pretended not to notice his assessing stare. It felt as if he had invisible calipers in hand and was taking all of her measurements. He was more thorough in his measuring glance than any man she’d come across in her life. It occurred to her that James hadn’t mentioned if there were any women among Brice’s automatons and now she suspected that Brice was deciding if she would be his first.
Now that she thought about it, she was surprised that he’d started with men. Of course, the war had given him the perfect cover for his body snatching, but still. Many men would have started with women. They would have been attracted to the idea of a perfectly compliant woman who was totally under their control. She shivered a little at the thought.
“Cold? I can ask my man to stoke the fire,” Brice said.
“Thank you, but there’s no need. A goose must have walked over my grave,” Faith said. She smiled as James helped her into her chair.
Through dinner, Brice gossiped about mutual acquaintances of his and Freddie’s. As she took small mouthfuls of her dinner, Faith sent a silent thank you to Freddie for his vast social memory. He’d filled James in on every detail he could think of about anyone both he and Brice might know. And James. He’d learned it all so quickly and so completely. She’d never worked with anyone of his abilities.
Their dishes were cleared by a man who had a wide-eyed look about him. He was silent and efficient, but every now and then, he’d catch Faith’s eyes and she’d have the sense of him trying to say something to her through them. His remarkably shiny eyes. When he set the main course before her, she watched the man’s hands. They were perfectly smooth, hairless. He was one of the automatons. She tapped James with her foot. He raised one of his hands ever so slightly. She’d never had a partner so in tune with her. Not even Freddie.
Brice spoke of his experiences during the war, inflating his work as a surgeon, based on what James had told Faith. “And that is why you’re here. I need someone to help me with these poor unfortunates. The current design in prosthetics leaves much to be desire. What good is a stiff wooden arm or a jointed tool? These men need something that both looks like what is gone and functions as what they lost. I heard about the work you were doing in London and thought you were just the man for me.”
“Thank you for thinking of me. I have to admit, country life may suit me if I can enjoy it from splendor such as this. That is, if I decide to take the position. I’m eager to see your workshops, perhaps after dinner?” James almost had Freddie’s voice perfectly. It was a wonder that E hadn’t tried to recruit James, despite his situation. He was an excellent mimic and he could be made to look like anyone. He was the perfect spy.
As James drank his wine, Brice watched him with that same assessing gaze he’d turned on Faith earlier. Faith didn’t touch her wine. It had to be drugged. When Brice encouraged her to drink, she explained that she had recently joined a temperance group. “Although, I can’t get this one to abstain,” she laughed. It sounded false to her ears, but Brice laughed along with her. “He is, though, much more moderate than when you knew him.”
“If you’ve managed that, my dear, you must be quite the charmer. Freddie here was a noted scoundrel when we were at school. The stories I could tell you!”
They retired to the library. Faith had to force her eyes away from the small door. When Brice invited her to examine the books to see if there was anything she’d like to read during her stay, Faith took the opportunity to measure distances. They’d have to navigate this room in the dark. She counted her steps under her breath as she went around the room, pretending to peruse the old books.
Did James know he was supposed to be drugged? Faith glanced over her shoulder. Oh, he was good. As Brice droned on about his plans, James let his eyelids fall and his head droop. A few times, he seemed to jerk awake. Brice watched James like a cat watching a mouse. Finally, Brice suggested that it was time for everyone to retire for the night. He rang a bell and the same man who had served them dinner entered. Faith and James followed him to their room.
When the man left them at the door, he turned to them. He looked around, over his shoulders and down the hallway in both directions. He leaned in close to James. “I know who you are,” he whispered. “Save us.”
The man walked away as if he’d said nothing at all.
In their room, James leaned against the door. “They know. My god, he’s got them following his orders, but they know. The program isn’t working as it should. They shouldn’t know they’re under control.” He sighed. “Well, time to get rid of dinner.”
Faith wanted to ask how he had been able to eat and what he needed to do now, but it seemed impolite, like inquiring after someone’s bowel movements.
James pulled a face at her. “Trust me, you don’t want to know what’s about to happen. I suggest you step out on the balcony while I’m in the water closet. I’d like to preserve some of the mystery between us.”
The night was beautiful. Spring was beginning to give way to summer. It wasn’t as warm as it had been in London, but the breeze was soft and there was no dirty fog to obscure the stars. She gazed up and tried not to think about what they were about to do and what would happen after. In the distance, she saw a blinking light. Morse code. E and his men were in position.
After Faith swapped James’ Freddie face for his own and they changed out of their evening dress, they lay in bed, waiting for after midnight. Brice, thankfully, kept regular hours, James said. He never worked through the night, believing sleep was vital to his genius.
Faith put her ear to James’ chest. Instead of a heartbeat, she could hear the faint whirr of gears. His chest didn’t rise and fall with breath. But he was alive. James put his arms around her and kissed the top of her head. “Try to sleep a little,” he said. But she couldn’t and didn’t. For hours, they stayed like that. In a way, Faith felt like it was more intimate than anything they’d done up to that point. She’d never expected this, to feel like this about anyone. She wouldn’t have risked her life for any of the men she’d slept with, but the moment James had asked for her help, she would have done anything to spare him.
They heard clocks throughout the house strike midnight. Everything was silent. Outside, the breeze ruffled the leaves of the trees. An owl hooted faintly. Faith sat up and stretched. She kissed James. Not a brief kiss like she’d give him if he were leaving for the day, but a deep, searching kiss that should have led to more, but couldn’t. “I’ll send the signal,” she said.
With a candle and a card, Faith went to the balcony and signaled to E that it was time. She blew the candle out. Her eyes had adjusted to the dark and she could make out the dim shapes of furniture in their room.
James took her hand. They made their way to the library, pausing at every creak, every shuffle. No one else was around. The door in the library was locked. But Faith was prepared for that. She lifted her skirt and from a pouch on her garter, she took out a small lock-picking kit.
James kissed her cheek. “You’re wonderful,” he whispered in her ear, so low it was more like a breath in her ear. She grinned in answer and went to work.
The door opened to a long staircase. It was darker than any other part of the house as there were no windows. James, with his better night vision, led the way. The steps wound down and down until they got to another door. This one was not locked. James paused with his hand on the knob. “Ready?” He breathed.
“Always,” Faith whispered back.
They stepped into a large, well-lit workspace. The huge steam-powered computer took up much of the space. Two men were shoveling coal into a vast boiler. The room was hot and noisy. Rows of automatons stood, not moving. They only watched as James and Faith walked into the room.
“He’s programmed them not to move until he’s told them,” James said. “We should be safe. He doesn’t expect anyone here.”
James went over to the control panel. He took out the cards he had made and began entering his program. Faith scanned the room. She took her gun from her garter and held it out, ready. Brice had to have some sort of protection built in. This was too easy.
Then she saw it, high up in the corner of the room, near the ceiling a light blinking. It had to be some kind of alert. She heard metal against stone and turned towards the sound. Headed toward them were automatons, but not ones as sophisticated as James or the ones he’d helped work on. These were simple, almost like tin soldiers brought to life. She fired into their heads, where James had said their power source was. They crumpled to the ground. But she could hear heavy footsteps from other directions.
“James!” She yelled. “Hurry! He’s been alerted!”
“Hold them off! I’ve got three cards left before I can activate the wireless signal.”
Faith loaded her gun. Even these tin soldiers were too easy. But then again, Brice probably hadn’t planned on someone having bullets designed just for this situation.
“I’m pulling the switch now!” James yelled.
Faith shot several more tin soldiers. “Hurry! I’m almost out of bullets!”
More human automatons opened their eyes. They were bewildered. James ran to them and tried to explain, but many of them simply panicked, running about. A few dashed out the door and up the stairs. Shots rang out and Faith heard bodies topple down the stairs.
Brice emerged, gun in hand. Well, he had special bullets too it seems.
“Oh, James,” Brice said. He shook his head as if James were a dog he’d caught eating garbage. “After all I’ve done for you.”
“Done?” James said. “You stole my life!”
“I saved it! The war was a waste. You were right about that. This way is better. You’re immortal now. They can never hurt you again. I can make sure there will never be another war again.”
“When? After you’re done slaughtering those who’d stop you?” James moved towards Brice. Brice pointed his gun at the centre of James’ body.
“James, don’t make me shoot you. You were like a son to me. My firstborn! Without you, none of this would be possible. But I won’t be stopped.”
James kept moving. Brice cocked the gun. Faith pulled the trigger on her own gun, but nothing happened. She stuck it into her belt and pulled out her knife instead. Brice hadn’t noticed her. She threw the knife, hard, striking him in the back of the thigh. Brice fell to the ground with a scream.
James snatched the gun from Brice’s hand.
Just then, E and his men clattered through the door.
“James, put the gun down,” E said. “We need to take Dr. Brice alive.”
James shook his head. He held Brice down with a foot across the doctor’s neck and he had the gun aimed at the doctor’s head.
E approached and held a gun against James’ head, just where his spine met his skull. “James. Put the gun down or I will shoot. The bullet will go through your brain and you’ll be dead.”
“I can’t,” James said.
Faith loaded her gun. She came up behind E and held her gun to his head. “You shoot James and so help me, I’ll do the same to you,” she said.
“Faith, Brice holds the key to all of this. We need him alive,” E said. He was calm. Faith knew it wasn’t the first time his life had been threatened. But she also knew E didn’t believe she’d pull the trigger. But if James were killed, she would.
“So you can build your own army?” James said. “No. You can’t use men like that. It’s still slaughter. It’s still suffering.”
“James, I swear to you that won’t happen if I can help it,” E said. But James shook his head. His arm shook. Brice moaned. Faith restrained the urge to kick him.
“Well, isn’t this quite the turn up?” Freddie came through the door.
Freddie surveyed the scene, hands in his pockets, as if he were watching a cricket game and not the break-up of a war factory. “Granville, dear, put the gun down. James won’t shoot Brice. Because James is a smart lad. And he knows that we’ll turn Brice to some profit, helping the wounded. Right, James? Granville?”
Faith giggled. She felt a bit hysterical. Granville. E’s actual name always sounded odd to her. Freddie rarely said it in front of anyone else.
“You too, Fido. Guns down all. There you go. Good boys. And girl.” Freddie knelt beside Brice and produced a pair of handcuffs from his jacket pocket. “Well, Dr. Brice, you’re under arrest. Treason and all that.”
Faith went to James. He flung his arms about her and held her so tightly she could barely breathe. He couldn’t make tears, but he wept all the same. After a few moments, after Freddie handed Dr. Brice over to one of E’s men, James lifted his head from Faith’s shoulder.
“What happens now?” He asked E.
“Well, we’re taking all the automatons into custody. Not arrest. But we need to discover who Brice took. And then,” E paused. Faith could have kicked him for that pause. Her happiness was in the balance and he was enjoying a moment. “They’ll be offered—choices. Deactivation. Return home. We’ll offer them care and maintenance for as long as they want. Or new identities.”
“What about the law?” James asked.
“Well, that.” E smiled. “Brice broke that law. Many times. But the way I see it, and the way I got my superiors to see it, is that none of you chose this. You deserve to decide what happens next.”
“What do you want to do?” Freddie asked.
James looked at Faith. She held her breath. James looked at E. “Give me a new identity.”
Faith kissed James. Freddie clapped. “Well done, Fido. I’d rather hoped you’d take advantage of the situation.”
“Give me a new identity too,” she said.