Peacemaker (The Flash Gold Chronicles, #3) (13 page)

Minutes ticked past as she hunkered over the
table, sweat dribbling into her eyes and dropping from her chin. It
had to be over a hundred degrees in the boiler room. Still, she’d
rather be there than in Sparwood’s cabin.

Muffled grunts came from between the
boilers, and Kali jumped. She’d forgotten about her prisoner. With
her new project in hand, she rushed over to check on him. He was
still bound, though he looked like he’d been trying to saw his
ropes off using the corner of the coal bin.

He gaped at Kali when she came into sight.
Actually he gaped at the shotgun in her hands. It still had the
same body, but the two salvaged tanks attached under the barrel
were definite upgrades. One held kerosene and the other pressurized
air. A slender tube fed the flammable liquid into and through the
barrel. The flash gold flake was tucked out of sight, inside the
muzzle, but she’d imprinted it with a command to ignite the
kerosene when the trigger was pulled.

“
Whuf iff it?” the pirate
demanded, his words almost indistinguishable through the gag Kali
had stuffed into his mouth.

Kali doubted her weapon would work on the
first attempt—given the way the day’s luck had gone, she might even
blow herself up—but she pulled the trigger, figuring she had to try
it eventually anyway. And wouldn’t it be great if it worked with
this stunted vegetable looking on?

The weapon issued a soft gurgle as liquid
traveled from the tank and through the gun. Though she had taken
some care to hide the flash gold from view, streaks of yellow
lightning escaped, coursing along the weapon, creating a riveting
display. Kali rolled her eyes. The stuff always seemed to want to
steal the show.

Then the fuel ignited.

Kali had been expecting a flame—that was the
whole point of the design, after all—but the three-foot-long,
six-inch-wide inferno that whooshed out of the barrel surprised her
with its size and power. She nearly dropped the gun. Even with the
flame shooting out of the end, heat crackled in the air, beating
against her hands and face, and she eyed the wooden stock with
concern. It ought to be all right, for the short term. She
hoped.

“
What is it, you ask?”
Kali said, trying to cover her surprise with nonchalant words. “I
haven’t thought of a name yet. Got any ideas?”

“
Shit,” the pirate said,
sort of. The gag made elocution difficult.

“
That won’t impress anyone
at the patent office.”

The air buzzed around the weapon, and
lightning continued to dance, streaking along the outside of the
shotgun shaft to mingle with the flame. The stink of burning
kerosene arose, and Kali wondered if she should have made a switch
that could modulate the amount of fuel sent to the flame. Ah, well.
Next time. If nothing else, this ought to scare some pirates. She
let go of the trigger, and the flame died out.

Thus armed, Kali jogged for the ladder
leading to the upper decks of the ship.

“
Whar…goin’?” the pirate
tried to call through the gag.

“
To put a wrench in
Cudgel’s wheel.”

Kali clanked her way up the ladder, the gun
bumping and tangling in the rungs, the leg iron adding weight to
her ankle.

“
Perhaps not the best
weapon for stealth,” she muttered.

Nonetheless, she made it to the top and
managed to juggle her gear long enough to ease the hatch open and
peer out. She didn’t see any feet in the narrow door-filled
corridor above, but the hatch blocked half of her view. She
listened. Muffled voices came from somewhere nearby, someone’s
cabin most likely, but no footsteps thudded toward her, so she
hoped that meant the corridor was empty. From her point of view,
she couldn’t see the steps or ladder that ought to lead to the open
deck up top. All of the doors in view were shut, including one at
the far end.

If Kali could find the navigation area
without anyone spotting her, maybe she could surprise whoever
manned those controls and take over the ship before anyone knew
what was happening. Except that she feared a ship like this,
designed like a naval vessel, would have its navigation bridge
above decks where lots of people could see it. Well, it was the
middle of the night. Maybe the crew would be sleeping or down in
the city, enjoying their ill-gotten earnings on gambling and
women.

Kali lifted the hatch the rest of the way
and climbed out.

“
You!” a pirate barked
from narrow stairs that had been hidden from view by the hatch. He
charged her, a cutlass raised overhead.

Kali cursed in her mother’s tongue and
whipped the modified shotgun up, pulling the trigger.

This time, with the weapon already primed,
the flames leapt to life immediately. The pirate ran right into
them. They poured against his chest, incinerating clothing and
searing flesh. He screamed, an ear-piercing cry of pure agony.

Kali pulled her weapon to the side and
released the trigger, half because she couldn’t hold those flames
on a man, and half because she was afraid she’d catch the wooden
corridor on fire. The pirate’s scream only grew louder. Knowing she
needed to quiet him, she slammed the butt of the shotgun into his
head. It was cruel to beat a man already so wounded, and she hated
that she had to do it, but she couldn’t have him carrying on,
alerting the entire ship. The pirate crumpled to the deck,
clutching his chest, and sobbing. The air stank of burning flesh,
and Kali’s stomach roiled. Frustrated with her lack of options, she
pushed him so that he fell through the open hatch and into the
boiler room below. There was a lock on the hatch, and she threw it
into place. It blocked out the man’s sobs, but she would never
forget the sight of his flesh and muscle being burned off before
her eyes.

“
What
have I made?” she whispered, tears stinging her eyes. She
should have found a way to make more buckshot for the gun. It’d be
a more merciful way to kill someone. Even a pirate didn’t
deserve—

A door in the corridor flew open, and a
barefoot man stumbled out, gun belt clenched between his teeth
while he fumbled to fasten his trousers.

No time for self-doubt. Kali stood, foot on
the closed hatch, and aimed the weapon at him. Cruel or not, it was
the only one she had.

The pirate stared at her—no, at the strange
gun in her hands—and didn’t immediately run toward her. She thumbed
the flames on again, judging him far enough away that he’d feel the
heat without being burned. Fire leapt from the end of the barrel
with surprising flair. Narrow streams twisted and twined in the
air, shifting intensity and direction, like dancers on a stage.
Watching it gave Kali a chill, as there was no mundane explanation
for that. The flake of flash gold had to be affecting it, as if it
had a mind of its own and was taking artistic license. Showing
off.

After a long, stunned second, the pirate
stumbled back, his belt falling from his mouth.

“
Go back inside your
cabin,” Kali said, “and don’t come out until the sun’s
up.”

She had no idea what she looked like after
the rough night, but he stared at her, mouth agape, as if he’d seen
the Grim Reaper. Then he lunged back inside and slammed the door
shut.

“
That’s a better solution
than maiming people,” Kali said, then shut her mouth, because there
was a tremor in her voice. Her hands were shaking too.

Somewhere above her, people shouted. The
whole ship had to have been roused by that man’s scream. Kali was
surprised pirates weren’t already charging down the stairs to get
her. Sneaking to navigation was out of the question now, and she
feared she wouldn’t have much time to come up with a plan before
she found herself in a firefight.

Another door opened, this one behind her.
Kali spun, weapon at the ready. This time, she recognized the huge
man who ducked to poke his head into the corridor. Sparwood. His
beard and hair stuck out in all directions, and a knife in his hand
dripped blood. His button-down shirt was open, showing black mats
of chest hair as tangled as the snarled locks on his head.

Like a bear, Kali thought. An animal. Not a
human being.

She held her finger on the trigger, but
didn’t pull it yet, not when he might easily duck back inside for
cover. He smirked, eyes gleaming as he watched her. There was no
fear in them. The cotton-for-brains lummox didn’t even look at her
weapon.

He stepped into the corridor and raised his
free hand, beckoning her with his fingers. He held the knife
loosely in the other, like he didn’t think he’d need it. If her
weapon failed her, he wouldn’t. But, no, she couldn’t think like
that. It had worked before; it would work again.

As if in response to her thoughts, the
converted shotgun hummed in her hands. In the back of her mind, she
acknowledged that that was strange—she hadn’t pulled the trigger to
turn the weapon on yet—but she had to stay focused on Sparwood.

Kali walked closer, slowly, steadily. A soft
sob came from within the beast’s quarters, but she didn’t let
herself feel any relief at hearing the girl alive. She might well
be beyond help at this point. Kali forced herself not to think, not
to feel anything.

Then the bear leaped for her, his massive
bulk filling the entire corridor. Kali pulled the trigger, even as
she realized there’d be no evading him. He’d crash into her
anyway.

Flames burst forth, a massive inferno that
lit the corridor like a sun. She didn’t aim for his chest, but for
his prick. Even if he survived the burns—and she hoped he
didn’t—she’d make sure he didn’t rape anyone else again.

The fire flowed into him, engulfing him,
wrapping about him and bathing him fully. He didn’t scream, but he
roared, all pain and rage.

Though Kali had thought to stand her ground,
to brace herself for his weight tumbling into her, she found
herself backpedaling as his huge form filled her vision. She wasn’t
fast enough, and he slammed into her legs, sending her tumbling
backward. She hit the deck hard, the shotgun flying from her grip.
The flames winked out, and Sparwood was on top of her.

His roar filled her ears. He thrashed about,
and she thought he was grabbing her, that his knife would come in
and eviscerate her any second, but he had dropped the blade. He was
clutching at himself, at horrible burns that had seared through
flesh and muscle, all the way to the bone. He found his feet and
jumped off of Kali to pound up the stairs, yelling strangled cries
for water.

A shot fired on the deck above, and Kali
cursed. She doubted she could hope that was one of the pirates,
accidentally shooting at their own comrade. She’d probably have men
pouring down the stairs in a second.

Trying to ignore the sick stench of charred
flesh, Kali grabbed her weapon and charged into Sparwood’s vacated
cabin. Her first thought was to find the girl and get out of there,
but footsteps thundered on the deck above. Kali shut the door
quickly. The tiny cabin seemed a pathetic place to make a stand,
but she couldn’t take the time to open the rest of the doors in the
corridor to see if any hid better spots, and she wasn’t about to go
back down into the boiler room, where she’d left the angry, wounded
pirates.

The cabin was dim, lit only by a single
candle in a storm glass lamp, and it took Kali a moment to pick out
the figure huddled in the corner. She was naked, clothes torn off
and dumped in a pile. Blood darkened the floor around her, and Kali
held her breath, afraid to approach. What if…. What if she was too
late?

She couldn’t help but feel she owed this
girl a debt, if only for being a distraction for Sparwood.
Otherwise, it might have been Kali in there. She never could have
fought off Sparwood one on one, and she wouldn’t have had time to
make her weapon.

A sob escaped the woman, and Kali released
her breath. Still alive.

“
He’s gone,” she said,
wishing she had something more comforting to say, but there wasn’t
time for anything but the practical. “Can you stand? We’re going to
have to run if we’re going to have a chance of escaping.” Though
Kali hadn’t quite figured out how to make that happen
yet.

The girl didn’t respond. Kali flexed her
fingers, wondering if she should creep forward and touch her on the
shoulder or leave her alone. Being touched might send her over the
edge. Kali looked around the cabin for inspiration, but the place
only made her stomach churn.

Different colored patches of hair were
nailed to the walls. Clumps cut free from the man’s victims?
Mounted above them, a strange glove with long brass claws gleamed
in the candlelight—the tool he’d used to make people think an
animal had killed the women.

“
Deranged beast,” Kali
muttered.

Shouts came from above decks. Sparwood
rousing his comrades to fight? Kali was surprised men hadn’t rushed
down the stairs already. Her dream of commandeering the ship seemed
destined to fail unless something up there was distracting the
pirates. Maybe that was why they hadn’t charged down yet. Hope
started to sprout, hope that Cedar might be up there, but she
squashed it. Because she’d run off without telling him her
destination, he wouldn’t know where she was, and, even if he did
know, the airship was likely flying high enough that nobody could
board it. No, she’d be better off finding some rope, sneaking up to
a railing on the main deck, or maybe into that cargo area with the
trapdoor—wherever that was. Of course, she didn’t know if her new
ally was in a condition to hold onto a rope and climb down what
might be dozens of feet or more.

Kali cursed again, wishing she had a better
idea.