Secrets of the Dragon Tomb (16 page)

He didn't argue.

“This doesn't have to be difficult,” one of the attackers called as they stalked forward. “Give us the map. That's all. No one wants you dead. Give us the map, and we'll be gone.”

“No,” Freddie said.

“Is it that important?” I hissed at him.

“Listen to your little friend, Mr. Winchester,” the attacker said. “He's got sense.”

Freddie let a smile spread on his lips. “If you want it, why don't you come and take it?”

The men spread out further. I found myself wishing Dr. Blood were here. At least I could have thrown his rocks at the attackers. Instead, I picked up two of our teacups.

“Edward,” Freddie whispered, “when I say ‘now,' I want you to cover your eyes.”

He stepped away from me. As though this was a signal, the four men charged.

Freddie leaped onto the table, then threw himself upward, stretching for the chandelier. He caught it with his right hand and swung himself higher.

The first of the attackers vaulted a chair and came at Freddie.

Freddie grabbed one of the photon emission globes from the chandelier.

“Now!” he shouted, and threw the globe onto the floor.

I only just managed to cover my eyes in time. The sound of glass shattering was accompanied by a flash of light so bright it seemed to burn through my forearm. I heard screams.

When I uncovered my eyes, it was to see Freddie drop from the chandelier. Broken glass lay on the floor nearby. Our attackers writhed on the carpet, clutching their heads, blinded.

He glanced up at me and smiled when he saw my expression. “You should have listened to your little sister.”

“What?” I said.

“The photon emission globes. She was trying to tell us how they worked.” He grinned. “I'm afraid I already knew.” I must have still looked blank, because he said, “They are mirrors, reflecting inward. When sunlight is trapped within them, it seeps out only slowly to illuminate the surroundings. When the last dragon tomb was opened ten years ago, it was full of devices like these. There were also plans for an arrangement of mirrors and lenses that could focus enormous amounts of sunlight to a single point.” He ripped the scarf from one of the attackers. They were the men we had seen watching us on the viewing deck. “The sunlight sealed inside the photon emission globes is incredibly intense. Release it all at once”—he gestured to the broken glass globe—“and it's bright enough to blind. Luckily, only temporarily.” He straightened. “We should tie these men up and summon the steward. Then…” He looked grim. “Then we will get some answers.”

The door at the back of the grand salon burst open. Putty and Olivia came racing in.

“We saw the light!” Putty said. “You used a photon emission globe, didn't you?” Her face was alight with joy. “See! I told you they were marvelous. Oh. You've beaten all of them.”

Freddie nodded. “We have. And now I think we can relax. I believe we're safe.”

But no sooner had the words left his mouth than a faint mechanical clicking sounded from outside the salon, followed quickly by another, then another, until there were dozens, then hundreds of the sounds, like tiny knives snicking together.

 

13

Attack of the Killer Crabs

“Close the door!” Freddie yelled.

I sprinted past my sisters, grabbed the door, then froze. The passageway was full of shiny metal creatures that looked like crabs. They weren't much bigger than my hand, but there were dozens of them. They scampered along on little articulated legs. I heard the whir of cogs and the click of metallic joints. Glittering black eyes stared at me. Each creature held two pairs of razor-sharp claws before it that snapped furiously together.

I heaved the door shut. Too late. Three metal crabs slipped through.

They were fast. The first of them scuttled across the wooden floor and snapped at my foot. Its claws sliced through my shoe, parting the leather as easily as paper.

I flicked my foot. The metal crab lost its grip and spun away across the floor to crash into the wall. The next moment, it regained its footing and came for me again. I backed away.

The other two crabs stalked Freddie, Putty, and Olivia. Outside the grand salon door, claws scraped across wood. Elsewhere in the airship, someone screamed.

The impact with the wall hadn't damaged the mechanical crab. It darted at me. I leaped back and shoved a chaise longue over. The crab dodged.

From behind me came a sharp crack, and a mechanical crab tumbled past. Freddie lined up the third, holding his walking stick like a cricket bat. He swung as the crab scuttled toward him, and smashed it back through the air. But already the other crabs were coming again. I raced back to the others, and we retreated.

“They're too well armored to damage,” Freddie said. “Maybe we can run their springs down. They can't have that much power in such small bodies.” He sounded doubtful.

Suddenly, Putty turned and raced away. I grabbed for her, but missed. I chased after her.

Freddie hit one of the crabs, but the next slipped past him and came after me and Putty. Behind me, Olivia screamed and Freddie cursed.

Putty headed for the waiters' counter. Maybe she thought if she climbed on top, she would be safe. She was wrong. I'd seen the pincers on the end of the crabs' legs. They were just like the ones Papa's mechanical spiders used to climb in the conservatory.

Putty scurried around behind the counter. Did she really think she could
hide
from them?

A second later, she reappeared, clasping a large glass jug in one hand. I blinked, and she slipped past me again. The crab snapped at her unprotected legs. Before I could open my mouth, she slammed the jug down, mouth-first, on top of the crab. Inside the jar, the mechanical crab spun angrily, snapping at the glass, unable to get a grip. Putty held the jar firmly over it.

She glanced up at me. “Get some more, Edward!”

I had forgotten the crabs menacing Olivia and Freddie. I grabbed two jugs from behind the counter. Freddie was using his stick to flick away the crabs as they approached, but he couldn't keep it up forever.

“Freddie!” I shouted.

With a sweep, he sent both crabs spinning away. I leaped past and pushed one of the jugs into his hand.

Like the automatic servants, the crabs had no real intelligence. Their minds were no more than tiny levers and switches, following preset commands. They didn't recognize the jugs or what had happened to the first of their number. Instead, they righted themselves and came hurrying back, little metal legs clicking on the floor, razor-sharp claws opening and closing ahead of them. Their metal bodies gleamed in the light of the photon emission globes. My hands were sweaty. The jug felt slippery in them.

I thumped the jug down so hard I thought it would crack.

I almost got it. The crab dodged to one side, and the edge of the jug caught its back leg, pinning it in place. Its claws snapped, inches from Olivia's feet. I held the jug with all my might.

Olivia scrambled away.

“Easy now,” Freddie said. He'd trapped his own crab. It rattled around inside its upturned jug, its claws ticking uselessly on the smooth glass.

Slowly, the crab I was holding worked its leg, trying to get free. I twisted to a more steady position. I'd have only one chance. I closed my eyes, took a breath, then opened my eyes and lifted the jug.

The crab shot toward me. I slammed the jug down again.

This time I got it right dead center. The crab hit the inside of the glass jug and skittered around, lost.

“Olivia,” Freddie said. “Find something to slide under the jugs. Some metal trays. We need to seal them in.”

One at a time, Olivia slid trays under our jugs. We flipped them over, leaving the crabs caught in the bottom of the jugs, with the trays on top. Just to be sure, we placed heavy bottles on top of the trays.

Now that the crabs couldn't escape, Putty peered closely at one of the trapped mechanisms. It tried to grab at her, but the glass foiled it.

“They're not very well made,” she said. “Look. The joints are positively shoddy. Very inefficient. Papa would never make anything so badly.” She shook her head. “Poor work.”

“They're good enough,” Freddie said. “And there were more than three of them.”

In the silence, I realized the noise of the crabs outside the door had disappeared.

“They can't get in,” Olivia said, with a sigh of relief. “We're safe.”

“Unless someone lets them in,” I said.

Olivia's hand fluttered to her chest. “What do you mean?”

“Someone had to bring them on board,” I said. “Someone had to send them after us. That person is still out there. All it would take would be for them to open one of the doors—”

“Quickly,” Freddie said. “Find a way to block the doors. Chairs or tables. Anything to hold them closed.”

I headed for the door, but before I could reach it, the airship lurched violently to the side. Freddie crossed to a window in three quick strides. Shading the window against the light in the salon, he peered out. I hurried over to join him.

The gas lamps around the walkway were dim. The airship's balloon blocked out the light from the stars and Mars's moons, so it took me a moment to see what was happening.

In the darkness, the crabs were scrambling up the railings onto the thick ropes that held the airship gondola to the balloon. There, they were cutting the ropes with their sharp claws. Even as I watched, another rope parted and the airship lurched again.

“They're cutting the gondola free!” Freddie shouted. “We're going to fall. Get to the lifeboats!” At the same moment, the airship's evacuation siren started, blatting its urgent tone into the night air. Shouts of confusion and panic sounded outside.

I cursed silently. The lifeboats were right at the back of the airship. We'd have to get past the crabs to make it. I looked through the doorway. The passage was clear.

The airship stuttered, slipping to the left before righting itself. The jugs we'd used as traps tumbled over. Glass smashed. The mechanical crabs scrambled free.

I pushed Olivia through the doorway, and the rest of us followed, slamming the door behind us. The outside of the door was scarred by the crabs' claws. At the far end of the passageway, the double doors leading to the dining room stood ajar.

The dining room was deserted and the photon emission globes had been removed from the chandeliers. The only illumination came through the windows from the lamps spaced along the outside of the gondola. We heard the shouts and screams of the other passengers. Silhouettes of men and women raced past the windows, like bats darting in front of the moon. Inside, shadows layered upon shadows, turning the spaces under the tables and sideboards into pools of gloom. Every glitter from a mirror or polished metal made me jerk around, expecting to see the metal crabs come scurrying out of the darkness, claws raised. I clenched my fists, fingernails biting into my palms.

We were passing a sideboard still laden with dishes from the evening meal when the airship gave another lurch. The dishes crashed to the floor. Splintered china spun past us.

This time, when the airship steadied, the floor was sloping to the side. The engines whined as the airship tilted forward.

“The captain's trying to land,” Freddie said. “He won't make it. We're too high.”

I tried not to think of all that open air beneath us. It was too easy to imagine the gondola sliding free of its cradle of ropes and plunging down into the blackness. It would be smashed to pieces.

The airship bobbed and slipped as we hurried across the slanted floor. The door ahead of us swung and banged as though it was caught in a gale.

“Edward!” Freddie shouted from behind. “Run!”

The door behind us had come open, and silvery crabs were pouring through: three, then four, then a dozen, scuttling toward us. Their claws sounded like hail on the wooden floor.

Freddie turned to face them, raising his walking stick. I grabbed Olivia and Putty and raced for the exit. I heard Freddie's stick thwack against the first of the crabs, then I had to turn all my attention to running.

A table slid toward us. We dodged as it shed its cutlery in a clatter of metal.

Olivia stopped, pulling on my hand. “We have to help Freddie.”

“No,” I said. “He doesn't need us getting in the way.” I hauled her onward.

We reached the exit and I grabbed the door to stop it swinging. A wide passageway ran crossways from one side of the gondola to the other. The door leading to the kitchens was wide open. Pans and knives lay scattered across the floor. Water dripped from an overturned kettle.

I pulled Putty then Olivia into the passageway and turned to watch Freddie. He was backing toward us, left arm thrown out for balance. With his right hand, he wielded his walking stick like a sword, jabbing and swiping at the crabs as they came toward him, sending them tumbling down the sloping floor. But as soon as they fetched up against the walls or the furniture, they came again.

Outside, something exploded with a crack like a cannon firing.

Slowly, the crabs edged their way around Freddie, out of reach of his stick.

Freddie glanced over his shoulder. “Shut the door, Edward!”

I shook my head. Even if the airship hadn't been about to crash, I wouldn't have closed Freddie in there with the crabs. Just inside the kitchen, I saw an oar-shaped bread paddle that had fallen away from the stove.

“Get the girls out of here!” Freddie shouted.

I let go of the door and half fell across the passageway. I grabbed the kitchen doorway and swung myself in.

“Putty,” I said. “Head for the lifeboats. I'll catch up.”

Another rope sprang free outside. The airship protested and settled further. I heard planks snap. Pans slid across the kitchen floor. Hot coals tumbled from the stove and scattered like red stars. A pair of bellows bounced past. I flinched back, then stretched for the bread paddle as it slipped toward me. The end of the paddle caught on a flagstone and it flipped, spinning through the air. It smacked into my fingers. I let out a shout of pain. Then my fingers closed around it.