Gears of a Mad God: A Steampunk Lovecraft Adventure (12 page)

Footsteps
rustled across the floor. Then the squeak of hinges, and silence.
He was gone.

# # #

She stayed on
the platform until Carter came looking for her. She climbed down to
join him, and the two of them made a circuit of the warehouse,
checking that all the cultists were gone. They tied up the
unconscious man and went back into the main workshop area.

There were two
dead cowboys on the floor, and Colleen grimaced as she stepped over
a man's outflung legs. Maggie and Chris sat with their backs
against the wall, pistols in their hands. Smith was still tied to
the machinery, and Colleen stared at him, confused. She took a
cautious step toward him, and Carter murmured, "Don't get too
close."

Smith stared at
her for a long moment without speaking. Then he said, "Cut me
loose." When she hesitated, the veneer of sanity abruptly dropped
away. His eyes opened wide until she could see the whites all the
way around, his lips peeled back to expose his gums, he strained
against his ropes until tendons stood out in his neck, and he
screamed, "CUT ME LOOSE! Cut me! Cut me! He's coming! He'll take us
all! It's too late, it's been too late for a hundred years, cut me,
cut me now, cut me."

His voice
subsided to a low mutter and he sagged in his bonds. Colleen drew
away, aghast. Behind her, Carter said, "Maybe something can be done
for him. We're certainly going to try. The Dirk I know is in there
somewhere. I think. We'll help him if we can."

Chris left to
summon police and an ambulance. Carter and Colleen joined Maggie
against the wall. Maggie squinted through the bruising around her
eyes and said, "Thanks for coming for us, Colleen."

Carter rubbed
his bristling mustache. His bowler hat was missing, and Colleen
could see sweat glisten on a balding spot on the top of his head.
He said, "I guess you'll be going back to Toronto now?"

"No."

"No?" His
eyebrows rose.

She shook her
head. "The Englishman's still out there, and I got his attention,
not in a good way. I don't think I'll be safe back home. Not for a
long time."

"What will you
do, then? We could send you into hiding, like we did with
Jane."

"Actually, I
think I'd rather help you find Tanathos." She glanced at Smith.
"These scum are more dangerous even than I realized. I don't think
I can just walk away. Not when I can help."

Carter nodded.
"Well, I appreciate the sentiment, but we still have no idea who
Tanathos is, much less where to find him."

"It's a place,"
Colleen told him. "Not a person. The Englishman told me that on his
way out. And I think I figured out what that picture was, the one
my uncle burned. I think it's a map."

Carter frowned,
staring into space. "A map. You could be right. That could have
been a coastline, maybe with a river down the middle. If we go
through enough charts and atlases, I bet we could figure out where
it is." His gaze switched to her face. "Maybe you can be helpful,
at that."

Maggie snorted.
"Look around you, Phil. Did you really need more convincing?"

He grinned,
then turned serious. "Well, we do have an opening for a Canadian
liaison to the team. I suppose you could be a candidate. You've
seen what can happen, though. Are you sure you want the job?"

Colleen closed
her eyes briefly, thinking of the life she could still have back in
Toronto. But she thought of a little house in Calgary as well, and
the life that Smith could have had, and she nodded. "I'm sure."

Carter's eyes
searched her face. At last he nodded. "Welcome to the team. Next
stop, Tanathos."

# # #

Thanks for
reading. I'd love to hear your comments. Go to
brentnichols.blogspot.com to leave me a note or to learn about
other stories. I can be reached by email at
[email protected].

Colleen's
adventures continue in
Dark Island
,
available now.