Agatha H. and the Airship City (16 page)

“I know enough to do basic research on biomechanics!”

“The only thing that’s basic around here is your grasp of the theories behind mechanical forces!”

“Oooh! You take that back!”

Agatha found this discussion a bit disconcerting, partly because it was delivered by a pair of twelve-year-olds, and partly because it sounded exactly like an argument she’d heard last week in the teacher’s lounge at the University.

“Make me, stupid head!”

“Ooh! I’m telling!”

Yep. Exactly.

Theo reached in and pulled the two apart. “Now what is this all about?”

A small, wiry boy sporting a large pair of goggles spoke up. “The bugs—”

The other boy, the freckled redhead with a small silver clock set into his forehead, interrupted. “Duh—Slaver wasps.”

“Get wound. You can’t just suck them out of people like in Theo’s story, can you?”

Theo nodded somberly. “That’s correct, Itto. Nothing can cure a revenant.”

“But the story said—”

“Stories are for
fun
. Do not mistake them for
facts.”

Another child spoke up. “My father said that the wasps came out of
machines.”

“That is correct. They’re called
Hive Engines.”

A little girl piped up. “Oh
that
. We saw one of those.”

“What?” Sleipnir exclaimed. “Where?”

“We were playing on the dirigible deck and the footmen said we had to go. But we hid and we saw them unloading this big thing they called a Hive Engine.” She pointed towards Agatha. “They unloaded
her
too. She and her
booooyyfriend
were on stretchers.”

Everyone looked at Agatha expectantly. She nodded. “There was a Hive Engine in Dr. Beetle’s lab. I guess they brought it here.”

Zâmî looked upset. “A Hive Engine? In the middle of a
town?
What was this Dr. Beetle
thinking?”

One of the black-clad servants suddenly appeared at his elbow. “Such talk is
not
for younger ears. Off with you.” To the obvious disappointment of the younger children, the older group moved off down the hall.

“I… I don’t know
what
he was thinking,” Agatha admitted. “About
anything.”

Sleipnir broke in, “What is the
Baron
thinking bringing it
here?”

Nicodeamus proclaimed, “The Baron can handle
anything.”

The others looked at him. He shrugged. “Mostly.”

Meanwhile Theo had gotten a faraway look in his eyes. “So—
Where
would this Hive Engine be, do you think?”

Sleipnir looked at him askance. “The Large Dangerous Mechanical Lab would be my guess. Why?”

“Well… I’ve never
seen
a Hive Engine, now
have
I?”

Sleipnir wheeled around and prodded his chest with a finger. “You want to go sneaking into one of the Baron’s labs? Even after what happened to you the
last
time?”

Theo looked at her blankly. “Well… Yeah.”

Sleipnir did a quick jig.
“Sweet!
Let’s go!”

“What exactly
did
happen to you the last time?” Agatha asked.

“Oh never you mind that, Agatha,” said Sleipnir. “Come on, it’ll be fun!”

“Plus,” pointed out Nicodeamus, “she’s the only one who knows what this thing looks like.”

Agatha felt a sudden tug at her skirt. Looking down, she saw Itto standing defiantly. “I want to come too,” he announced.

Theo shook his head. “Forget it, Itto. You’re too young. Von Pinn would
kill
me.”

“I won’t
tell
her!”

“No!
You stay here.”

With that the group moved off. Agatha’s last view of Itto was of the youngster sullenly kicking a table leg. Once around the corner, she hurried to catch up to Sleipnir. “You can’t tell me that we can just waltz into one of the Baron’s labs.”

Sleipnir winked. “You’d be surprised. Most of the labs aren’t that well guarded.”

Zâmî nodded. “The Baron is most careful about who gets onto the Castle in the first place.”

“And getting off is even harder,” Nicodeamus added.

“Besides,” Theo pointed out, “we’re not going to walk in through the front door. There’s
lots
of ways—” He was interrupted by Agatha, who had stopped dead and put a finger to her lips. The others stopped and, a second later, a small figure slipped around the corner they had just turned and ran straight into Agatha’s waiting hands.

“ITTO!”
Frantically the boy tried to break free from Agatha. Theo’s hand descended onto his shoulder. “You were told not to come.”

Agatha looked slightly relieved. “I’ll just take him back—”

Sleipnir shook her head. “Oh no, he’s coming with us now.”

Itto punched the air. “Yes!”

“BUT—”Sleipnir continued to the boy, “if you get infected by a Slaver wasp, we’ll have to kill you.”

Itto’s eyes got huge behind his goggles. “What?”

Sleipnir looked sad. “Sure, and I’d hate to do it. So whatever you do,
don’t open your mouth
. Understand?”

Itto nodded frantically and clapped a hand over his mouth.

They moved off in silence, twisting and turning through corridors until Theo stopped before an unobtrusive door. Reaching into his vest, he pulled out a large bunch of keys. He flipped through them, selected one and delicately probed the lock. A quick twist, a muffled
thunk,
and the door swung open. With a flourish, he bowed them into a small antechamber lined with maintenance lockers. Against the far wall was a metal ladder that ascended into the darkness. He lightly grasped the ladder to feel for the vibrations that would indicate that it was in use, and felt nothing. He nodded in satisfaction and turned to the others, his face serious. “This is an access ladder to one of the lighting maintenance platforms. Once we get up there, move slowly and gently, they’re not made to take a lot of extra weight.” He looked directly at Itto. “And above all, keep quiet.”

From behind his hand, Itto grunted an acknowledgement.

When Agatha’s turn came, she stepped onto the ladder, and with a sigh of resignation, began climbing. Eventually she joined the others on a small metal platform dominated by an enormous arc-light. The air was sweltering, as the great light put out heat like a furnace, and the platform shivered unnervingly whenever anyone stepped too heavily. It looked out upon a large cavernous room, lined with workbenches and machinery. Agatha noticed however that there were also racks of weapons to hand, as well as excessive amounts of fire fighting equipment, medical supplies and large mobile barriers. Also standing about the room were some of the large creatures that Agatha had seen in the corridor. The domes that occupied the place where their heads should have been gleamed under the arc-lights.

Sleipnir noticed the direction of Agatha’s gaze. “Those are Radioheads,” she whispered. “The Baron acquired them from some madlad he had to put down in Albania a few years ago. He figured if he could build fighters without brains, they wouldn’t get scared or feel pain or worry about dyin’. The Baron doesn’t use them off the Castle, because they creep people out too much.”

“But… If they don’t have a brain, how can they do
anything?”
Sleipnir directed Agatha’s attention to a group of uniformed women that were on a small balcony on another wall of the vast chamber. All of the women were lined up, peering at the room below them. They seemed relaxed, and Agatha could hear their voices as they idly chatted amongst themselves. A flash of reflection made Agatha realize that each of them was wearing a small glass dome atop their heads as well.

Sleipnir continued, “Each one of them controls a Radiohead. Like a puppeteer, except it’s permanent.”

Agatha shivered. “Those poor girls.”

“Don’t feel sorry for them. The Baron’s offered to free them from the connection, but not one of them took him up on it. They’re happy the way things are.”

Agatha blinked. She was spared having to reply by Theo touching her arm. “Agatha, is that the Hive Engine?” He whispered. She followed his finger and was startled to see that the device was almost directly below them. Within its thick glass shell, the now familiar disturbing shapes slowly roiled in the thick green liquid.

“Yes, that’s it.” A trio of figures emerged from a doorway and approached the sphere. “Isn’t that the Baron?”

Everyone else froze. “Yes it is,” whispered Theo in a strangled voice. “Now
shhhh!”

On the floor below, the Baron walked around the vast sphere, examining it closely. Following him were two of his oldest assistants, Dr. Vg and Mr. Rovainen. Vg was a tall, whipcord-sleek Asian of indeterminate sex. Mr. Rovainen was a short, shambling figure who was swathed in thick bandages, goggles and a voluminous coat. The bits of him that were exposed, glistened with a soft nacreous sheen. Mr. Rovainen had not shaken hands with anyone in years.

Klaus stopped and faced them. “So. Your preliminary analysis?”

Mr. Rovainen spoke in a wet, buzzing voice. “It is
definitely
the work of the
Other,
Herr Baron.” He slowly rubbed his bandaged hands together. “A viable Hive Engine—after all this time.
Fascinating.”

Vg broke in angrily. “No,
terrifying!
I
strongly
recommend we put it on a fast ship and drop it into the nearest
volcano
. There is
nothing
we can learn that is worth the risk presented by having this thing aboard the Castle.”

Klaus raised an eyebrow. “Really. Then you can
already
tell me whether this device is indeed eighteen years old or
brand new.”

Shocked, the two scientists glanced at each other and then wheeled about to stare anew at the slumbering engine. Mr. Rovainen coughed wetly. “My apologies, Herr Baron. Not yet.”

On the platform, the students were straining to hear what was being said. “It’s smaller than I thought,” Theo murmured.

“What are they
saying?”
Nicodeamus muttered.

“What if the Slaver wasps escape?” whimpered Itto.

“Then all
we
have to do is run faster than
you,”
Sleipnir replied.

Looking slightly ill, Itto backed away from the edge of the platform. Suddenly he noticed a pale lump on an adjoining ledge. The lump rippled. Itto felt his throat close in terror. The lump moaned softly and extended a pale protuberance. Itto backed up

until he ran into Sleipnir.

“Wa… wa…” he moaned.

“Itto? What is it?” The lump reared itself upwards and a pair of gleaming eyes opened.

“WHAAAAASSSPP!”
Itto screamed and scrambled over the others, throwing them into confusion. The large white cat that had been slumbering on the platform bolted off into the darkness. Suddenly there was a loud
CRACK!
and the platform began to move. It tipped forward sharply. Agatha grabbed for the wall and snagged an exposed ring bolt. Her arms twinged as the platform stopped with a jerk, but suddenly everyone screamed as they felt the floor begin to buckle. With a groan, and a snapping of restraining bolts, the great arc-light swayed forward, flared, went out, and with a slow twist, pulled free from its restraints and fell over the side.

Agatha and the others watched in horror as the plummeting light smashed into the Hive Engine, knocking it off of its pedestal. The massive sphere hit the ground and began to roll directly towards the three startled scientists. Dr. Vg and Mr. Rovainen stared at the looming engine, spun and ran shrieking. Klaus sighed and sidestepped the great sphere while scanning the upper reaches of the room.

“Who’s up there?” he yelled. “Are you all right?”

Above him, Theo pulled Sleipnir off of the swaying platform. “We are so dead,” the girl moaned.

“Only if they
catch
us,” Theo reminded her. “Now come
on!”
All of the others were already scrambling down the ladder.

The door to the lab burst open and a group of Lackya flowed in and surveyed the situation.

On the floor, a squad of Radioheads had rushed forward and brought the great sphere to a stop. A swath of crushed lab equipment showed its path through the room. In the corner where they’d trapped themselves, Vg and Rovainen realized that they were clutching at each other and hastily disengaged.

One of the footmen appeared next to the Baron. “Is it an
emergency,
Herr Baron?”

“No, no, the engine hadn’t been activated.” He pointed upwards. “There are some students on that light platform. Bring them to me.”

In another corridor, the students were moving as quickly as they could without attracting suspicion. Theo was in the lead. “If we can just get out of this sector—”

“WAIT!” Agatha’s shout brought them all up short. She pointed at a small figure running back the way they’d come. “It’s
Itto!
He’s running the wrong way! We’ve got to get him!”

Sleipnir caught hold of Agatha’s sleeve. “Not to worry! The footmen will catch him and they’ll bring him back to the dorm unharmed. Von Pinn would
destroy
anyone who hurt him.”

Agatha looked confused. “Then… why are
we
running?”

Theo put a hand on both girls’ shoulders and pushed them along. “Itto is too young.
We,
on the other hand, will be put on grease trap duty for life.
Again.”

“That’s
bad,
is it?”

“RUN!”

Back in the lab, the Baron looked up from a pile of debris to see a squad of footmen approaching. They stepped aside to reveal the terrified figure of Itto in their midst. The Baron looked askance at the leader.
“This
is all you caught?”

“So far, Herr Baron. Though he
does
say that he was alone.”