Even the slowest dirigibles could overtake a seagoing ship, but the Asteria soared, clipping maybe ninety miles an hour at top spin. She was dodgy, too. At only a hundred and eighty feet, with her gas pods set side by side and independent steering controls for the props, the Asteria could fly rings around anything waterborne.

  Just as the sun set, the Doc called us all down to the lower deck, a loading and cargo level with railings all round, but otherwise open. The main gondola hung above, with the armored gas bags partially obscuring the view to port and starboard.

  Down below and maybe three miles ahead, the Cadmus cruised along her northerly bearing.

  Dmitri was ready in his heavy armor, which added two feet to his already significant height. It had feet like sleds and over one densely plated shoulder rode a short-barreled cannon. The left forearm flared like a shield, and the right gauntlet mounted a three foot blade.

  The Shrike was ready to go, wings extended and a beak-like visor of amber glass over her eyes, tense as a cat in the doghouse.

  Magus leaned against the banister of the steps leading to the main deck, unchanged in dress and demeanor.

  The Doc—Liberator—spoke into the callbox horn: “Captain White, match speed and descend.”

  “Match speed? Why not attack?” Shrike stepped right up to the Doc, stabbing a finger into his chest. “We have to put an end to this.”

  “That’s right, but we’re not going to waste our efforts,” he explained evenly. “I want to know where it’s going and who sent it first.”

  “You’re right,” she said. “Those abominations just....”

  Anika cut her off with a huge metal hand on the shoulder. “We all feel the same.”

  I walked out to the prow, which jutted forward of the upper deck just enough to communicate with the curved viewports of the pilot house. I waved to Captain White and then turned into the wind. It was getting colder, and the air grew heavy as we descended. I tuned out the debate behind me and snapped a couple of shots of the horizon before closing my eyes and reveling in the wind.

  I felt a presence beside me and glanced to my left. Magus nodded once and turned his gaze to the distant target, just barely visible in the fading light. “You have an open heart. Guard it in these coming days,” he said.

  I turned, mouth agape. This was the second time I had ever heard him speak. “What?” I managed. He did not repeat himself, but gazed evenly at me.

  His eyes were so black that nothing escaped them. He pulled back the hood of his navy blue cloak and offered a quick and fractional smile. I noticed that his hair was long, tied in the back, and that some kind of tattoo marked the back of his neck.

  “These are dark times, Young Master Lehrer. They shall grow no brighter before the shadows become void. Think on the ways of the world and understand how to guard yourself. Your Liberator will not long be with us. The price of his power leads him into destiny.”

  Well, now I was truly flabbergasted. I knew—and of course the Doc knew—that using his powers made him sick, but we were certain we’d managed to keep the secret. I tried not to let my reaction show.

  “What do you mean?” I asked.

  Magus pulled the hood back into place and turned to watch the sea. I couldn’t get another syllable out of him, and you can believe I tried. Eventually, I abandoned the pursuit and returned to my quarters for a snack, knowing that Doc wouldn’t let anyone get the best of him.

  We followed through the night.

  When the ship made port, I had just joined the others in the pilot house, where Captain White pointed out our position on a big nautical map.

  “Cape Sable Island,” he declared. “Sparsely populated, mostly fishermen. She’s putting into this harbor here. There’s only one thing of any matter hereabouts, Doctor, and that’s the old fort. We would have to ascend to get a look at it, but I guess it could still be standing.”

  I could almost hear the Doc activate his ‘archive,’ firing his brain into overdrive. This was another of our little secrets: no-one else knew that his incredible recall depended on more than natural acuity. I also knew he’d have a hell of a headache for a few hours.

  “Yes, Fort Barrington. Her Majesty commissioned it near the end of the Seven Years’ War. As I recall, it was stone and wood, meaning that some of the construction should be new. Captain, swing us around to the east and drop us across the island, then circle out to sea and hold, if you please.”

  “Yes, Doctor.” White crossed the few steps to his control board and swung us about as we filed toward our bunks to ready ourselves.

  Shortly thereafter we made a beach drop and the Doc led us into the woods along the track of a stream. I dashed from bank to bank to avoid the icy water as I scouted ahead. In tight and cluttered spaces, I took extra care to avoid a painful misstep, since my speed sometimes outstripped my sight. I came to the fort in minutes and scouted the perimeter, taking copious mental notes and snapping a few photos before returning to report.

  “The wood is new, I said, “and it looks like they’ve done a lot of work. There are a couple of warehouses outside the fort, and a couple of gliders, too. One balloon. There’s also a fence. I couldn’t see inside, and I didn’t see anyone moving outside.”

  “Well done, Jordan. We will proceed with caution and once in the area, Anika and Shrike can provide a distraction while the rest of us get inside and see what’s what.”

  *****

  Let me tell you, when those two set up a distraction, they don’t muck about. A quarter-hour after we hit the perimeter, smoke rounds went sailing over the fort’s walls from the north while guards were falling dead from the deck of the Cadmus a half mile to the west. The troops sallied, a mixture of men in gray uniforms with Maxim III machine guns and clockwork creatures, and I slipped in behind them.

  Sticking tight to the walls, I made my way into the blockhouse before placing an odd little disc of crystal and silver on the floor of an empty room. Stepping away as instructed, I almost fell backwards as it erupted in black smoke, and the Doc and Magus appeared before me. The Doc issued a cough and immediately stuck his head out the door to take stock.

  “It looks like we’ve got our distraction,” I chuckled.

  “So it does, Jordan. Let’s find the lab.”

  “Lab?”

  “Yes, we must discover how these things are made and controlled, and more importantly, just who is behind it.”

  “Do not expect a purely scientific laboratory,” Magus said. “Technology alone cannot account for these things: something otherworldly drives them.”

  The Doc nodded and dashed into the hall, with us close behind. It did not take long to locate a stairway leading down and clearly marked ‘No unauthorized entry.' The stairs were long and recently constructed.

  As we descended, the Doc whispered, “This is it, gentlemen. I can smell the wood and machine oil. Something else, too....”

  “Yes,” Magus said. “Agrimony, celandine and common thistle, if I am not mistaken, all suitable for the purpose of animation.”

  “So they really are magically animated?” I asked.

  The Doc replied, “Nothing else would do, I expect. They operate with autonomy, and no technology can achieve that. Now quiet, I see light.”

  At the bottom of the stairs was a landing with a set of double doors. The Doc and Magus listened for a moment before nodding to each other.

  “Cinn,” the Doc whispered, “get in there and cross to the other side. If you are spotted, make some noise; otherwise we will come in behind you in two minutes. First, charge me up.”

  I hated doing it. Doc Huntington had never been anything but kind to me, but I knew how vital it was. We took a few steps back up the stairs and he steeled himself. My fists flew like cricket balls in a hurricane, hammering against his chest for just a few seconds. When the Doc opened his eyes at the end of my barrage, they were aglow with blue fire. He had absorbed virtually all of the damage, converting my blows into potential energy that cascaded through his muscles and nerves.

  Then I was off, slipping through the door and leaving Magus to pull it closed behind me. The room was huge. High-ceilinged and shrouded in asbestos to ward off fire and presumably dampen the noise, it had been set up as a factory of sorts. The area nearest the doors housed row upon row of high shelves, packed tight with crates and parts. I hooked right and followed the wall around the corner.

  Coming into the main workshop, I saw rows of machines, each powered by one or more integrated Hooke Engines. Numerous lights hung from the ceiling. There were lathes and mills, drill presses, sanding machines and others I did not recognize. Welding stations and tempering vats were scattered throughout. The workers seemed no more animate than the machinery itself, each focused on his task. I could make out nothing of their origins through their thick gray shop suits and full helmets with goggles and earmuffs. The din was all but unbearable, even through my own noise-suppressing helm.

  Beyond the machines waited the worst of it. A wide area stood empty around some kind of an altar, a big stone affair with symbols carved in the top and sides, and braziers of sputtering coals sending up a thin gray smoke on either side. The top was stained red. It was eerie, out of phase with the technology that cranked out parts only yards away. Behind the altar stood a row of cages containing an assortment of animals: dogs, cats, pigs, ravens, and all manner of smallish creatures. The lot seemed on the verge of starvation. Some pawed at the iron bars, others laid in their own offal, barely breathing. Many cages stood empty.

  I cruised past, but came to a full stop at the fifth row.

  The last line of cages imprisoned not beasts, but children. My gasp drew the attention of a man who stood halfway down the aisle, dragging a girl from her cage by the arm. On seeing me, he shoved her back in and slammed the door closed.

  I shot up to full speed. The Doc and Magus would not be coming through the door for another minute and a half, and I wanted to put some distance between myself and the man before sounding an alarm. The fellow scared me, and I’m little ashamed to tell you.

  He was balding, with a ring of black hair like a monk. He wore a dark suit with a red shirt and instead of a tie there hung about his neck an amulet of black metal and bloodstone. As I cut around a cage he drew a knife from within his jacket.

  I slipped into the next aisle and went careening back across the altar area and into the workshop. There stood near me a row of punching presses, all stamping out rough gears for the automata. I slammed into the nearest with my shoulder before spinning off toward the storage shelves. The machine fell crashing to the ground. Its operator leapt back, barely avoiding the toppling machine, taller and heavier than himself by far, and let out a yelp. The press struck the stone floor with a clang, parts and pieces scattering in all directions.

  As I vanished into the rows of shelving, I heard the call of alarm, and the din of machinery lessened as workers hit stop mechanisms and Hooke Engines spun down. I came round the shelves to see Liberator and Magus rushing down the main aisle at full clip. I reversed my trajectory and slowed, coming to a stop behind the last shelf, where I could see my companions burst into the workshop.

  The workers had grabbed up hammers, spanners, and machine handles, whatever weapons stood ready, and were filing into the shelves in search of me. A few had pistols. The Doc went in with fists flying, knocking men back dozens of feet, where they went crashing into machinery and slumping to the floor, broken or senseless. Magus stood still as a stalking cat, slinging tendrils of dark energy to trip or grab the enemy. The darkness emanated from his chest, as though some demon octopus reached out through his ribcage.

  I took leave of their battle for a moment to strafe through the shelves, taking out half a dozen workers who had not spotted my allies or chosen to avoid them. I rejoined the others when I heard a distinctly Anglish voice calling out.

  “Halt where you stand, Magus.” The fellow in the fine suit strode confidently forward, stepping over his fallen workers. “I have called my soldiers back. They will be here in minutes.”

  “Albert,” Magus replied darkly. “I might have guessed the likes of you would be lurking behind these horrors.”

  “Oh, you have little capacity to imagine the horrors I have prepared for these uppity colonists. We have finally reached the limit of our patience. Do tell, who are these friends of yours?”

  The Doc cut in. “I am Liberator, sir, and this is Cinnabar.”

  “I see. More bloody anarchists.”

  “Allow me to differ, Mister...?”

  “Edgeworth. Albert Grey Edgeworth. You have the best of me there, Liberator,” he issued the Doc’s code name with a venom, “but I expect you shan’t share the truth.”

  “Not today,” the Doc replied. He began to go on, but Albert cut him off with a swing of his dagger. A cascade of unnatural color followed its path and exploded into a gust of force. I dodged aside as it struck the others. Adam absorbed the energy, but dropped to one knee. Magus was not so fortunate. He flew back into a shelf, the wind knocked from his chest. As I bolted forward to return the attack, our foe tossed a handful of discs to the floor and in a burst of light appeared five immense constructs.

  They were similar to the others, constructed of that same rare wood and various alloys, but stood eight feet tall on a quartet of legs. Their massive torsos likely housed heavy Hooke Engines, and their arms terminated in long blades on the right and many-barreled guns on the left. By the time I stalled my advance they were moving in on us.

  “Get Magus away,” the Doc called, rising to his feet. He threw his left arm over his face as the guns sprang to life, spewing a wall of shot in his general direction. Liberator responded by stepping slowly forward into the rain of death, drawing their fire and fury as I dashed behind him, scooping Magus off the floor.

  As I slipped round the nearest shelf, a stray bullet caught Magus in the thigh, and he cried out. Behind the roar of gunfire, Albert laughed.

  “Stay here and do what you can, but don’t leave this cover.” I dashed back into the fray, knowing that the Doc’s powers had their limits. Ignoring the automata, I flung myself at Albert, knocking him off his feet.

  Coming around the other side, I got a glimpse of Lady Shrike limping into the factory. Her right wing hung shredded and she gripped a Maxim III, retrieved from one of the soldiers.

  I stopped beside her as she dove for cover. “There are five demons, big ones, and a man who controls them. He’s called Albert and he’s the only thing in there worth shooting.”

  She took ragged breaths between words when she spoke. “There are many smaller ones on the way. The ship was full of them. I couldn’t stop them.”

  “Where is Anika?”

  “On their heels, I expect. His shells were falling on the Cadmus when I fled. So many....”

  “Have no fear,” I assured her.

  She smiled in response, her mouth turning wicked. “I don’t.” Rolling onto her stomach into the main aisle, she steadied the machine gun and primed its Hooke Engine. Knowing I had left the Doc on his own long enough, I accelerated along the parallel aisle to support him.

  He stood atop a platform composed of an automaton’s lower body and legs, which still moved. As it staggered back and forth, knocking over machines and bashing into its allies, the Doc swung a bladed arm, likewise liberated, to good effect. I knew his strength was fading, and raced through the area in search of something, anything, to bring the conflict to a quick end.

  I considered releasing the beasts and children, but they would have no interest in fighting the automata, nor be particular about what people they fell upon.

  Thoughtlessly, I leapt atop the altar to get a view over the machinery. Its runes suddenly glowed with a malevolent black energy that pulsed and shimmered in an almost hypnotizing pattern. My feet went numb as an impossible cold spread into me. I began to crumble, but managed to hurl my weight forward to fall off the damned thing. Feeling returned as soon as the contact broke, and I got to my feet, now certain that the altar served as a nexus of power or control.

  It came to me, and I dashed at full speed back to the side wall and along the reasonably clear path there. As I came through the workshop-turned-battlefield, there was a distinct rattle of a Maxim III, and I saw Albert fall, blood cascading from his left shoulder. He did not cry out.

  In the middle of the shelf on that side, I grabbed up a three-gallon glass jug marked with the chemical symbol ‘HCI’ and rushed back to the altar, nearly colliding with Magus, who stepped around the shelf’s end and tossed a disc back down the lane. As I passed, he spun around to assault Albert with his darkling tentacles.

  At the altar in a loving pair of seconds, I cast the acid onto it, and over the sizzle of evaporating stone, the clang of metal feet and constant whir of Hooke Engines and bullets stopped.

  As I turned back, the Doc cried out. At full speed, I passed through the mangled machinery to see Liberator on the stone floor with Albert’s dagger imbedded in his chest. Magus’ words aboard the Asteria returned to me and I hurled myself at Albert in a rage, but Magus already had the better of him and lifted him into the air with a mass of shadows. I skidded to the Doc’s side. His breath was shallow, and a trickle of blood ran from the corner of his mouth.

  Shrike limped into view, dismay evident as she saw Liberator beaten and bloody beside me. She raised her rifle to end Albert, but the Doc and Magus called out as one:

  “No.”

  Adam said, barely audible, “We must question...” before going limp. I checked for his pulse and found it slow and low, but steady.

  “This is not over,” Albert said weakly. Magus slowly, painstakingly, drove the air from his lungs with contracting tentacles.

  “We shall see,” the thaumaturge replied as the darkness enveloped his foe entire. He spoke a word, all but silently, and the darkness vanished, taking Albert with it.