Steamsworn (Steamborn Series Book 3) (28 page)

“Samuel?” Alice’s call echoed through the smoke.

“Yeah … I’m here.”

An awful knot of dread untied itself in Jacob’s gut. It was a knot he was getting too familiar with, and he hated it. “Where are you?” He still couldn’t see Samuel.

One of the Scythe Beetles wobbled, and Samuel slid out from under its broken wing.

“Eww,” Alice said.

“Not my blood,” Samuel said with a grin. “Well, the blood is, but not the nasty bits.”

Jacob stared at the Spider Knight. He was covered from head to toe in the exploded innards of a Scythe Beetle.

“Gods, man,” Smith said. “Come over by the pumps. We will get you washed down. Mary will never let you on board the Skysworn again with a stench like that.”

“We’re taking the train,” Samuel said.

“Not with us,” Alice said. “Not smelling like that. Gag.”

It hadn’t really hit Jacob before, but as the adrenaline subsided, the sheer stench of the exploded bugs grew overwhelming. They made for the pumps while the Skysworn dropped its landing lines onto the edge of the station behind them.

“I hate caves,” Jacob muttered.

“Will the water be okay on the nail glove?” Alice asked.

Jacob nodded. “It’s bronze and brass for the most part. The water won’t be great on the leather, but one wash won’t hurt it. Just be sure to oil it later.”

Alice didn’t need to hear any more. She almost dove into the stream of water when Smith cracked one of the pumps open. The tinker throttled his biomechanics, and the gears on the pump whined before breaking free. Alice grimaced and scrubbed at her arm, shivering in the blast of cold well water.

Cage and his people began dropping onto the platform by the time Samuel finished washing off. It took him a while to scrape out the joints of his armor.

“You look like a drowned man,” Cage said. He stopped more than arm’s length from the Spider Knight, far enough that Samuel would have to put some effort into slapping him.

“Hilarious,” Samuel muttered, looping his vambrace back into the latches at his shoulder.

“How many are functional?” Cage asked, his eyes roving across the ruined railcars and the fallen wall.

Smith released the pump arm and adjusted his biomechanics. “Two engines and a flatbed … if we are lucky.”

“You’re alive. I’d say you’ve some measure of luck left.” Cage frowned and scratched the back of his neck. “We have nearly two hundred fighters. How many can we fit on the car?”

“If it works, perhaps twenty-five.” Smith hopped up on the engine closest to the exit. “It is an old design where the steam vents out the sides of the car. We can stand eight people around the engines.”

“We’ll have to travel in groups,” Cage said, and his displeasure was plain to see. “I have no desire to split my people up. Six trips … I suppose it could be worse.”

“We’ll go first,” Jacob said. “Alice and I know the catacombs. We can make sure the path is clear, scout ahead before you get there.”

Cage rubbed his chin and glanced at Smith.

“He’s right,” Samuel said. “Jacob and Alice know the underground as well as any of us.”

Cage turned from Samuel back to Smith.

Smith pressed his transmitter and continued talking to Cage. “We can shorten the rail time by using the Skysworn as a relay. If Mary drops off groups of forty midway between Dauschen and Ancora, we have a much better chance of entering the catacombs undetected.”

Mary’s voice crackled to life. “You have a better chance going in with a small group instead of two hundred.”

“We need them,” Samuel said. “If anything goes wrong, we’d be overrun in an instant without them.”

“No plan is without its risks,” Drakkar said. “We may be overrun with or without them.”

“I’ll do it,” Mary said. “It’s not a bad plan. Lead with scouts, check the station, and I’ll send the rest of the cars in with your signal.”

“Understood,” Smith said. He turned a valve on the railcar’s engine, pulled one of the levers down, and a burst of steam shot out the side vents. Smith released the brake, and the railcar slowly began moving forward before he locked it down again.

“Not so out of luck,” Cage said.

Smith gave him a nod.

Jacob hopped up onto the other engine and raised his voice. “After we check the underground station, I want to go to the old lab in the observatory. We can make it there and back before the railcars finish a second run.”

“Why?” Smith asked.

“Charles liked his secrets too.” Jacob turned the valve, mimicking what Smith had done. He flinched back, surprised at how hot it was. With the help of his sleeves, he managed to get the valve turned and the brake released. The gauges showed a constant pressure, but the cars didn’t move.

“Open the valve more,” Smith said. “Bring the pressure up to the red. Once she moves, we can pull it back.”

Jacob spun the valve open, the needle shot into the red, and the engine lurched forward. His heart leapt at the sudden movement and he scrambled to make adjustments. Jacob quickly closed the valve and slammed the brake back in place.

“I think it works,” Alice said.

Jacob flashed her a grin. “You might be right.”

“Night is on us,” Cage said. “If it takes two hours to reach Ancora from here on the rails, it will be past midnight by the time all our forces reunite.”

“That’s the best time,” Samuel said. “The night patrols have always been lighter. I doubt they’ve stepped them up since the Fall.” He curled his hands in to a fist. “Now that there are fewer people to protect.”

Samuel’s words weren’t anything Jacob hadn’t thought himself, but he almost flinched hearing them aloud. What was left of the Lowlands now?

“You know the city better than most,” Cage said. “I’ll be interested to hear the results of your scouting. My men can take over if you fail.”

Smith eyed Cage for a moment before nodding. “Samuel, Drakkar, Alice, Jacob, with me.”

“They will not be your only companions while you scout.”

Jacob turned toward the voice. George walked up the rails with Gladys at his side.

“Thank the gods you’re okay,” Gladys said, sliding her arms around Alice before squeezing Jacob’s hand. “Those beetles … That was awful. I’d rather face Tail Swords.”

“Me too,” Alice said.

Cage ran his hands through his hair. “It’s almost too simple. Walking in through an abandoned tunnel, straight into Parliament?”

Smith adjusted a series of small valves on the engine. “No plan ever survived a war. Complex plans have more room for disaster.” He clicked the transmitter on his collar. “Mary, we are ready.” Smith looked up from the engine. “Well, friends, I believe the time has come.”

*     *     *

The railcar squealed
and creaked for the first mile outside of the underground base, sending the two chainguns rolling across the deck. Jacob set his feet against the guns to still them. He worried they’d never be able to sneak into Ancora with all that racket, but the axles quieted more with each mile. The air outside was fresh, much more than that in the abandoned station had been, though he thought it was funny he hadn’t realized how stale the air was at the time.

“I haven’t been on a rail since I was ten,” Alice said. “Back when they used to run the shuttle between Ancora and Cave.”

“Six years for me, I think. My dad took us on a ride to Dauschen and back to celebrate his new job in the mines.”

The railcar thumped and squeaked. Samuel and Smith discussed whether or not they should slow it down, but let it be in the end.

“I’ve never been on one,” Gladys said. “I like it though. It’s … peaceful.” She leaned against George.

Drakkar shifted on the wooden bed of the railcar. Every time the engine rattled across a rough spot in the tracks, it seemed like a new splinter cracked up from the floor.”

Samuel spun something between his hands, silver and almost glowing in the moonlight.

“Is that your whistle?” Jacob asked.

The Spider Knight froze and looked up. “Bessie’s whistle.” He held the oblong instrument out before sliding it back into his pocket.

They traveled in silence for a while, leaning into each other when the curves were severe enough to push them around the car. They’d been on a slight incline, and now the track flowed out onto a long, curving trestle.

Smith leaned forward and began closing one of the valves. “Up ahead. Turn off the lights and keep as silent as you can.”

Jacob’s boot scraped against the wood of the railcar as he jumped to his feet, wobbling slightly the few steps it took to reach Smith. Alice stayed beside him.

The lights of the Highlands stretched across the wall far above them. In the shadow of the moonlight, the city threatened anyone who dared to approach. Jacob had never seen his home like that. He’d never thought of it as a fortress, but that’s exactly what it was. He hoped that unwelcoming vision was keeping his family safe.

“No lights in the station,” Smith said.

“They opened the entire wall,” Samuel said. “That’s madness, or it’s a trap.”

“What about the invaders?” Jacob asked.

“Invaders?” George stood up at the word.

“The bugs.”

The railcar closed on Ancora faster than Jacob had expected. It wasn’t another ten minutes before Smith all but shut down the engine. He clicked the transmitter on his collar and almost whispered. “Mary, we are at the station. No lights, but they opened it wide. Could be a trap, could be nothing. We will contact you again.”

“Understood,” came back faint and quiet.

“Look at that,” Alice said. “They opened the entire wall up.” She pointed off to the side of the mountain. “Is that the path we took with Charles?”

Jacob nodded, remembering the hellish journey it took to even
get
to that trail. “We can take the mountain path back to the old lift by the observatory,” Jacob said. “I need to stock up on Burners and Bangers. Charles kept a stash hidden in the floor, and there’s no way they found it, if they even went looking.”

He could see by the look on Samuel’s face that the Spider Knight wasn’t happy about the idea. “Fine, but make it quick. We’ll be in the station. We need a while to setup the chainguns in the catacombs anyway.” Samuel paused, and then said, “Keep your leg covered. I don’t know if they’re looking for Biomechs, but they might be.”

Jacob ran the layout of the catacombs through his mind. He thought there were at least two prime spots to set up an ambush. “Stay to the right in the catacombs. You’ll have shadows and an obscured view from the hallway.”

Samuel nodded.

Alice grabbed Jacob’s forearm. “I’m coming with you.”

Jacob didn’t want her to come. He didn’t want her in more danger than she needed to be in, and he had no idea what was waiting at the lab. But she was quick, sharp, and good at killing things.

“Me too,” Gladys said.

“No,” George said, placing a hand on the Princess’s shoulder. “They are going in silently. The more people that are with them, the more likely they are to be caught. Leave this to the Ancorans and help us inside the station.”

Gladys didn’t argue. She only gave Alice and Jacob a look of longing as they hopped off the railcar at the mountain path and waved as it vanished into the abandoned station.

“Jacob.”

He turned to Alice in the dim light.

“We’re ending this.”

“I
don’t like
this,” Jacob said, his voice barely above a whisper as they made their way farther down the mountain trail.

“What?” Alice asked.

“Every time I take a step, I’m afraid someone’s going to hear. Some guard’s going to pop out and catch us.”

“Why would they have guards out here? The invaders are a bigger threat than any person could ever be.”

It hadn’t been ten minutes, and they were already passing the pool of water where Jacob had escaped the raging underground river. Alice was right, and he knew it, but something still felt wrong. The full scope of that gut feeling waited around the next bend.

Alice gasped, and Jacob froze. The winds shifted, no longer blowing at their backs, and a putrid stench threatened to overwhelm them. Jacob pulled the edge of his leather vest up over his nose, but he still gagged.

There were bodies, of men, and beasts, and women, and Red Death. The path stood half blocked by fallen stones—massive square stones that should have formed the walls of the Lowlands, but instead lay fractured and broken where they’d slid to a stop.

Jacob expected to see Carrion Worms, and he did, but they were all dead; crushed by stones or skewered by spears and halberds. He tried to look up the cliffside, stepping to the edge of the path to see if any of the wall remained above, but the angle was too sharp.

“Let’s see if the lift is still there,” Alice said. “If it’s not, we go back, if it is …”

Jacob nodded. “We go up.”

They didn’t speak of the broken, decayed dead at their feet. They didn’t mention the horrible cracking sounds the dead and dried carcasses made when there was no way around but over. Jacob cringed when a bone snapped under his foot, but he didn’t look. He didn’t want to know.

He slipped toward the end, and when he caught a glimpse of the body at his feet, he almost screamed. The face he couldn’t recognize, but the tiny metal brace attached to the child’s arm was unmistakable. He frowned, and breathed, and stumbled away from that ruined child, far enough to vomit over the edge of the trail.