34

Ashton climbed into the capsule first, adjusting the padding and fighting with the cable.

Hunley stood, gnawing her pinky nail, watching.

I glanced at Ashton and then motioned for her to lean in.

She did so, eyes narrowed. “What?”

“If there is a choice,” I whispered. “Ashton would never bring himself to…what I meant to say is, if something must be done to keep others safe…”

“I will keep my word,” Hunley said. She looked at me, her resolve apparent. “Of that, you can be sure.”

“Ready?” Ashton extended his hand and helped me up into the capsule with him.

Catching her eye one last time, I mouthed, “Promise me.”

She nodded and glanced away, her lips pressed into a thin line.

I huddled atop Ashton’s chest in the confines of the capsule. Sweaty and tired from maneuvering its weight in the heat of the engine room, I shifted and tried to get comfortable in the utter darkness.

“Are you all right?” Ashton’s deep voice rumbled from his chest. “Charlie?”

I felt for his face and found it. Then I kissed his jaw. “Yes.”

Hunley’s nervous chatter outside the large chute kept me from going mad. She fought with the hoses and levers, cranking the controls of the chute, all while telling us we were insane to try this.

The Chasm Walker rolled in the tumultuous seas and the tight quarters did little to quell the feeling of queasiness that hit me in waves. I held my breath at every knock and bang on the hull, sure we would sink to our deaths at any moment.

“I think Hunley may pass out before she manages to launch us,” Ashton whispered.

“Well, it is a stressful moment,” I commented, blowing an errant lock of hair from my eyes. “For her, I mean.” I clutched my chest, hoping Ashton could not hear the terrified thudding of my heart.

“This reminds me of Tesla’s rocket,” Ashton murmured. “Remember barreling through the bowels of the city with me?”

“Do you realize I haven’t used a normal mode of transportation since the moment I met you?” I tried to sound lighthearted and yet the surrounding metal seemed to squeeze the breath from me. “Power cycles and rafts…I would never have dreamt of the adventures I had with you.”

“We’ll live to see more,” Ashton whispered and pulled me closer. “You can count on that, Charlie.”

Hunley knocked on the outside of the capsule, and Ashton lifted the hinged lid to peer out.

“I think you’re set. Tighten the seal, and I’ll close the metal door out here.”

“Keep her steady, Pru,” Ashton warned. “We’ll be attached to both this ship and Outer City in this storm. You have to man the helm best you can.”

“Yes, yes,” Hunley said, her eye twitching minutely. “I will do my best to steer the ship.”

Ashton and I nodded, and she stepped away. We closed the lid to the capsule, securing it tightly with the clasps that lined the seam. Our breaths echoed in the closed space. We shifted, metal scraping metal as Hunley pushed us further into the chute and closed the door. My heart raced in my ears. I clung to Ashton.

“Cover your ears,” he said.

My hands flew to the side of my head. A moment later a tremendous clattering erupted around us as Hunley released the launching mechanism. The grappling hook and cable whipped out, clanging in the chute as it shot out of the side of the submersible’s hull, flying toward the support beams of Outer City’s port slips. The force of its propulsion yanked us up the metal tube slowly at first and then with greater speed. A final blast from Hunley and we rocketed across the expanse, sliding along the cable, soaring upward to the floating city.

“Hang on, Charlie,” Ashton yelled, as the speed of our ascension flattened us against each other.

“How do we stop?” I shouted, trying to hear over the zipping sound of the cable scraping along the capsule’s outer skin.

“We crash into something, I think.” Ashton wrapped his body around mine, cradling my head in his hands, bowing over me.

For an eternity we shot upwards, air so hot I couldn’t breathe, limbs heavy and pinned down. A bone-jarring crash crushed the wind from me. My teeth snapped together so hard I tasted blood. If not for the padded interior, I surely would have broken bone.

“It worked,” Ashton said, his voice full of surprise. He felt for my face, down my arms, along my lips. “Charlie?”

“I’m still breathing.” I winced at the pain in my sides and shoulders. I felt as if I had tumbled down a hill of boulders. But I was alive.

Tapping on the outer surface, spurred me to move. Rain. We rocked back and forth, the metal capsule creaking as it rolled along a solid surface. A whimper of relief escaped my lips. We were not in the ocean. We had landed on something hard.

Ashton disengaged the clasps, pushed the door open, and stuck his head out. Rain flew into our faces, icy, needling drops, that stung my skin. He climbed out, reached in and pulled me onto the planks of the port. I staggered, the walkway swinging in the torrential winds and sheets of rain. The grappling hook was embedded in the center of a large pylon. The cable creaked and twanged as the Chasm Walker fifty feet below bobbed on the roiling waves.

“Oh, look.” Ashton pointed to a red-painted lever inside near the seat. “There is a brake after all.”

I looked around. Despite the crash, not one person stopped to notice. Instead they ran every which way in the driving deluge. Men tried to lash what was left of buildings to each other to strengthen them against the storm winds.

I felt a faint call. A gentle summoning that tugged at my core and drove me to search frantically for Jack. Where were they?

The platforms dipped precariously, the floor falling from underneath my feet suddenly. I fell with it, gazing up at the dark form in the distance.

“Oh, help us,” I cried, trembling.

A swell rose from the depths of the sea like a dark wall of writhing matter. It rippled as it grew, rising to the height of the city before crashing down in a deafening thunder. Rushing water poured over the walkways and tore buildings from their ballasts, hurling them into the Atlantic.

I shook, terror gripping me.

“Is that Riley?” Ashton shouted over the storm. He pointed at a tangle of men near the jailhouse.

Ashton grabbed my hand and we ran towards them. Rain in my face blurred my vision, and I tripped on broken planks and toppled shacks.

Riley fought to free his arm from one of his deputies, aiming his gun at Mr. Percy. His men grappled with him, crowding the sheriff until all I could make out was his brown duster flapping in the winds.

Ms. Timble stood by, her hands to her cheeks, sobbing, white hair blowing across her face.

“What is he doing?” I yelled as we ran toward them. Staggering to a stop, I held onto Ashton and rode another wave flooding across the surface of the port.

“Trying to shoot someone it seems.” Ashton stepped in front of me, his arm holding me back. “Riley!”

Everyone looked over.

Riley registered shock and yanked himself free of his deputies. His gaze snapped to me, and then behind us at the churning sea.

Percy remained on the planks, curled in a ball.

Ms. Timble went to him, dabbing his bloody lip.

“How?” Riley took two quick steps to me, fighting for a foothold against the jolting city. Shaking his head, he holstered his weapon and looked at Ashton. “What are you two doing here?”

“Rescuing people,” Ashton said and shrugged. He stood on the shifting surface as if he had been born to the sea and raised a brow. “Fifty feet above a storming ocean? Whose idea was that?”

“Mine, and it would have saved us except Percy here turned yellow!” Riley yelled down at the prone man. “He tried to bargain his way out of things. Gave the Coalition our location.”

“The old and infirm are no good in a fight,” Percy said, rising to his feet with great difficulty.

“But all this is for nothing now!” Riley waved his arms around, his eyes wild. “Look at this! We’re ripping to pieces! For what? For what, Percy?”

Ashton shot a sideways glance at me.

I bit my lip.

Riley was nearly mad with anger and worry.

Ms. Timble stood next to Percy, steadying his sway and nodding. “A surrender was the logical thing to do,” she said, wiping the rain from her face and eyes. “He was only trying help Lilah and Jack—”

“Yeah, or have you forgotten about that boy?” Percy said and spit blood. “They’ll as soon kill the strange tot if they lay eyes on him in the fray.”

Riley lunged for Percy.

Ashton stepped in between, holding him off. “Whoa, Sheriff, stop.”

“He’s right,” I said over the growing thunderclaps. The mechanica in my legs fired, the shocks stabilizing my stance. “About Jack. Arecibo wants him, I think. It’s why I risked coming back. He’ll suffer worse than I did, Riley. We have to get him and Lilah off this port now.”

Riley stared at me. Sea water and rain dripped from his chin. His hair plastered to his forehead, he blinked. He looked past me to the tattered capsule we climbed out of and then over at a steel, reinforced armory shed lashed with cables to a pylon nearby. Finally, he nodded. “She’s in there, hurry,” Riley said and ran off.

We hurried to the structure, Jack’s call strengthening until all I felt was panic and choking fear.

Riley flung open the door, and my gaze snapped to the bundle of soft skin and black eyes huddled next to his mother. His arms swung up and his little mouth turned down. Then his whole face crumpled into sobs.

Betrayal, abandonment, and relief flooded my mind and I choked up. “I came back,” I said scooping him into my arms. “I’m sorry…so sorry.” Glancing at Lilah, I sucked in a gasp. She was in bad shape. Her fever at full bore, her skin was red and hot to the touch. Sweat or rain or the sea had soaked her to the bone.

Jack buried his face in my neck, tiny fingers tangling in my hair, shaking.

I pulled back, looking into his deep gaze. “You feel that?” I held his face in mine, willing all my strength to calm his frantic thoughts. “Steady, Jack.”

He stopped crying and turned to face Ashton and Riley with quiet resolve.

Ms. Timble ran over, her face panicked. “Sheriff, there are people trapped. A shack collapsed. Please, help!”

“Go,” Ashton yelled. “I’ll get them.”

Riley gritted his teeth, but nodded and ran after Ms. Timble.

A thunderclap roared over the port, and I flinched. “Ash, grab her and run!” I screamed.

He scooped her up and ran with her to the capsule as I followed with Jack.

The wire whipped along the planks, dragging and tearing as the Chasm Walker tossed in the waves below.

A swell brought the vessel almost level and I spied Hunley’s shocked face in the porthole. She raised a hand as if to wave before plunging back down. The cable twanged, a strand of wire breaking.

“You have to go with her to work the brakes,” Ashton said. “She cannot take a crash like we had and Jack will tumble around in there and get hurt.”

Another swell tossed the submersible and the tether between the Chasm Walker, and the port dragged across the wood walkway. The planks tore, shearing off in pieces. I grabbed the wire, trying to hold it from going any further. The mechanica in my arms and legs fired silvery light, and I shouted with the flood of power. “Go, Ash,” I screamed, straining. “I am stronger than you. Get them safe!”

Hesitating for a moment, Ashton relented and got in with her. “I will be back,” he shouted over the pounding rain. Nodding, I handed him Jack.

“I’ll help Riley,” I said and closed the door. Unsure if it was secure, and with no time to waste, I shoved with all of my strength, sending the capsule sliding back down the wire to the chute in the submersible. It wobbled on the line, waves smashing into it as it went. The cable sliced at my hands, and I cried out as pain erupted from the device in my spine. The capsule disappeared back into the Chasm Walker, and I let the line go, panting with the effort.

Riley ran over, his face bleeding from a nasty gash. His gaze went overboard. “Did they…”

“They made it.” A blast tore over the port. Sharper than thunder, the sound made the hairs on my arms stand. Cannon fire. I searched the sky. To the east, closing fast, a lone air ship flew out of the churning black clouds. “What is that?”

Riley turned, shielding his eyes. “Is it the Coalition?”

Pulling down on the muscle behind my eye, the distance lens engaged. I squinted and my blood ran cold. It was a fast ship, a battle class. The distinctive marking on the ship’s hull gave it away.

“That is Arecibo,” I said, my voice shaking.

“How did he find us?” Riley spit rain as he spoke.

“He has spies everywhere. I am sure Arecibo heard your whereabouts as soon as the Coalition did.” I spun, scanning for the Chasm Walker’s grappling hook. In one powerful kick, I freed the cable. It fell away from the port and sank into the sea.

“What are you doing?” Riley ran to the edge, his hands covering his mouth.

“Keeping them safe.” Reaching for the baton in the pouch at my side, I ratcheted its sections out, feeling the power slide from my mechanica to the shaft and back, redoubling. Another crack of cannon fire meant we were too late. The round was already on its way. It crashed into the water less than ten feet from the port. “A warning shot.”

“Or bad aim,” Riley intoned, drawing his weapon.

I shook my head, striding across the ruined port toward the approaching ship. “Arecibo doesn’t miss.”

The air ship sped down, firing again.

“I heard he blew up the Coalition of Khent meeting,” Riley panted, running next to me. The rain had slicked his hair down, and he blinked as the deluge hit us head on. “What is he doing here?”

“He wants Jack. He won’t fire until he has him.”

Arecibo’s ship banked, flying over the port. The sails whipped in the storm and the ballast netting twisted in the winds. And then I saw them, Trembler Knights standing on the edge of the ship’s railing. Five of them pulled their swords and leapt. My heart stuttered, but I charged, raising my baton, feeling the strength build. Jaw locking with a surge of power, I ran, closing the distance in seconds. A series of successive blasts echoed from the ship and a cluster of objects soared towards the port. I skidded to a stop, unsure of what they were. The clawed feet of the metal spheres connected with the metal cables of the pylons and walkways. They landed in a ring around me and I turned, scrambling to get out of their perimeter. Riley staggered backward, going down as the hair on his head rose with the building charge.

Purple tracer lashes flowed from Arecibo’s ship. The energy flowed to the spheres and then leapt to the riggings and cables of the walkways and buildings, arching across the air.

Whips of light slammed into me from every direction, a ring of white-hot pain that brought me to my knees. I screamed, the mechanica embedded in my skin smoking and misfiring with the onslaught of overwhelming power. “No!” I cried, trying to crawl. Every joint in my body froze, locked with the jolt searing through me.

Riley lay sprawled, not stirring.

Agony tore across my head, the lens in my eye engaging and retracting. I gasped for air, falling to the planks, twitching. A wave poured up over the side of the port, swirling around me, filling my mouth and eyes. I coughed, unable to move.

A pair of boots came into view, and a whimper escaped my lips. Long cloak flailing in the storm, Arecibo peered down at me. He bent down, grabbed a chunk of my hair, pulling my head up to face him. Rain poured down from his nose, and he shook his head, a wry smile pulling on his tight skin. “You have been quite a bother,” he said and let go.

My cheek banged on the planks, and I tasted blood.

“A faulty little weapon, if I do say so.” Flipping his cloak back like a pianist, Arecibo hefted me up and over his shoulder.

I dangled helplessly, terror crawling through my mind as he walked with me back to the air ship. Riley stirred and I tried to call to him, but I was paralyzed. My mechanica continuing to fire sporadic shocks.

“But do not worry. We shall remedy that right away.”