The Assassins of Altis

Chapter Sixteen

The solid wall of the warehouse now held a hole the size and shape of a narrow door, through which pale light from the nearby Mechanic searchlights filtered into the warehouse. Alain took two steps and stood in the opening Mage Dav had created, one hand extended, the other arm covering his eyes. A loud explosion erupted at the far end of the warehouse as Alli’s charge went off, blowing out part of the wall down near the gate, and at almost the same moment Alain’s spell caused bright light to flare for an instant right outside, then vanish.

Mari blinked away spots. Even though she had been screened from most of Alain’s light, it had still been bright enough to dazzle her a little. “Let’s go!” She rolled around the corner of the opening, her pistol held ready, and sprinted across the street, coming even with Alain. In the middle of the street an apprentice was staring around, his young face panicky. “Kris? Fathima? Who’s there?”

Mari swung close to the boy, who she thought couldn’t be older than ten. “Guild business,” she snapped with the most attitude she could muster, mimicking a Senior Mechanic. “Don’t worry about us.”

The boy nodded in confusion, blinking around as the other Mages and Mechanics ran past. The Mage-created opening in the warehouse wall had already vanished as if it had never been. Mari heard a girl’s nervous voice call from down the street. “Kyl? What happened down there? Are you all right?”

“Guild business!” the boy called back. “Yeah, I’m all right.”

In the other direction, shots rang out. Mari pivoted that way, bringing her pistol up as a heavy lump formed in her guts, but the shots weren’t followed by the sounds of bullets striking nearby or going past. She stared down the street at the bright lights around the gate, able from this angle to see the figures of Mechanics behind the lights, some of them aiming into the cloud of dust raised by Alli’s explosive charge. More shots rang out as the Mechanics fired into the dust and the small opening the charge had made in the warehouse wall.

A hand grabbed her arm. Mari spun again, seeing Alain even as her pistol came around. He pulled at her urgently and Mari realized she had been standing still instead of fleeing. She ran with Alain after the rest of her tiny army, none of them stopping until the group had reached the minimal shelter of a side street. “Your plan worked!” Alli exulted. “Those guys are professional killers and you outsmarted them!”

“Yeah,” Mechanic Dav agreed, giving Mari the sort of look he had previously reserved for Mage Asha. “Alli was right. You’re brilliant.”

Mari stared at them, unsettled by the praise. “Oh, please. We’re not out of this yet. How do we get out of Altis alive?”

“There is a boat down at the landing,” Asha said with her unnaturally calm voice even though her eyes were glittering with excitement. “It will take us to a small ship in the harbor.”

“A small ship?” Mari asked. “What small ship?”

“My small ship,” Mage Dav answered. “The common members of my family are traders out of Gullhaven. I discovered that I had inherited a trading vessel, the Gray Lady by name, from one of them. The ship and crew await us.”

“We’ve got a ship,” Mari exulted. “If we can get to it. Alli, Mechanic Dav, you guys know Altis better than I do. How do we get to the landing?”

The other Mechanics exchanged glances. “The Guild’s got a ship in the harbor, too,” Alli told her.

“A ship? One of the steam ships?”

“Yes, but not one of the all-metal cruisers. There’s only one of those left right now since you crippled the Queen,” Alli explained.

“You really did almost sink the Queen, all by yourself?” Mechanic Dav asked with an awed expression.

“Alain helped a lot. Is this Mechanic ship in the harbor armed?”

“Yeah. A medium-caliber deck gun.”

“Is that bad?” Alain asked.

“That’s bad,” Mari confirmed. “All right. Fine. We’ll deal with that when we get there.” Mari led the way down the street at a fast walk, putting away her pistol. “First thing, we head for the entertainment district.” A few more shots rang out behind them, muffled by distance. Mari could hear more fire bells ringing, and when she looked back she could see at least two columns of smoke rising into the night sky, illuminated by the fires beneath the smoke, fires that had been caused by the fights near the hostel and the bar. Mari suspected that the Mechanics Guild and crowds drawn by the sounds of battle had prevented the local fire wardens from getting to the blazes and putting them out before the fires spread. Nearer at hand, a wide and growing pillar of smoke was rising from the warehouse area, this one lit up by the lights of the Mechanic assassins and from more flickering flames beneath it. As she watched, another explosion resounded from among the warehouses and a fountain of smoke and debris flowered skyward as tremors rippled through the street underfoot. “This is going to be a tough night for the city and citizens of Altis,” Mari said.

Alli squinted back the way they had come. “From what I can see, I’m guessing that marks the end of the warehouse we were inside. Good idea to use a short fuse and get us out of there fast, Mari.”

“Thanks,” Mari said. “Hopefully, now that I’m not hauling around that far-talker, the Mechanics Guild assassins will keep shooting at and blowing up warehouses for a while before they notice we’ve gone.” She glanced back at her group, Mage robes and Mechanic jackets intermingled. “Guys, this looks weird. Really, really weird. Alli and Dav, Mechanic Dav that is, get in front so the commons will clear a path for you. Alain and I will go next, because we still look like commons, then Asha and Mage Dav. That way we won’t look like we’re all together.”

They walked, trying to keep up a good pace but not so fast as to look like fugitives. Not for the first time, Mari envied the Mages’ ability to look totally emotionless no matter what was happening.

Alli turned her head to talk to Mari. “So, you’ve already got a plan for dealing with the Mechanic ship?”

“Uh…”

Alain’s hand came to rest comfortingly on Mari’s shoulder as he answered for her. “Yes, Mari has a plan.”

“Good.” Alli and Mechanic Dav both seemed reassured.

Mari leaned close to Alain. “I have a plan?” she whispered.

“Yes, you do. The same plan we used on the Mechanic ship.”

Mari gave him a baffled look. “The make-it-up-as-we-go-along plan?”

“I thought you preferred to call it improvising.” Alain indicated the others with them. “They have confidence in you, but still need the comfort of feeling that you have the situation under control.”

“Alain, tonight I wouldn’t even be able to recognize a situation that was under control,” Mari confessed.

“They only need to believe you can lead them and they will follow you anywhere.”

“Is that supposed to be comforting? Because it isn’t. It was bad enough when your life was my responsibility, Alain, but now there were four more riding on my decisions.”

Alli dropped back a little again, nodding her head in Asha’s direction, her voice a whisper that only Mari could hear. “Where did you find her?”

“She’s an old friend of Alain’s,” Mari replied.

“Oh.”

“What does that mean?”

“Nothing! If you’re comfortable with that, then—”

“Comfortable with what?” Mari demanded.

Alli gave her a doubtful look. “You have noticed how beautiful she is, haven’t you?”

“Duh. She’s got a great butt, too, in case you haven’t noticed that.”

“I haven’t had the chance, but I’m sure Dav of Midan has drooled over the sight of it.” Alli rolled her eyes. “You’re not worried about her and, uh…”

“No.” Mari turned a baffled look on Alli. “Alain thinks I’m better-looking than she is.”

“No way!” Alli grinned. “Maybe he’s seeing the inner you.”

Mari couldn’t help smiling, too, grateful for the distraction from her worries. “Oh, yeah, the inner me has to be one incredibly hot female, huh? If Alain could see the real inner Mari he’d have run away a long time ago.”

“I don’t think so. Why does Asha keep calling you ‘friend Mari’?”

“She is my friend,” Mari explained. “And that’s pretty special to her. She hasn’t had any friends, Alli. Not like you and me. Not ever. Asha can’t really show it, but she keeps calling me that because it means so much to Asha to have a friend.”

“Really?” Alli shook her head. “No friends. That must have been rough. Were you Alain’s first friend, too?”

“Uh, yeah, I guess so.”

“That’s our Mari.” Alli laughed, checked her rifle, then walked faster for a moment to catch up with Mechanic Dav.

Well-lit streets were visible ahead, a fair number of people still upon them despite the late hour, but many of those people were now ignoring the bars and nightclubs which tried to lure them in. Instead, most were staring to the west, where lights flared, the not-too-distant crack of Mechanic rifles sounded off and on, and an occasional deeper boom marked large explosions going off. The faint sound of fire bells ringing deeper in the city carried between the closer and louder noises of destruction.

Mari guessed that the Mechanic assassins were methodically blowing open warehouse after warehouse in search of her and Alain, while shooting at anything that moved. The rodent population of the warehouse compound was certain to be taking a serious hit tonight. It felt odd to know that the battle sounds Mari was hearing were aimed at her when she was outside the area of battle and trying to get farther away by the moment.

“This is the high-class district,” Mechanic Dav looked back to announce as they entered the crowded streets. “Most of the people here are citizens of the city. They don’t usually go down to the entertainment district by the port.”

“What’s the difference between the entertainment district in Altis and the one down by the port?” Mari asked.

Alli gave Mari an incredulous look. “Mari, don’t you know anything about sailors?”

“Not much, no.”

“Cheap booze, cheap entertainment, cheap food,” Mechanic Dav summed up. “Back home they’ve got nice families and nice houses. In a foreign port they’ve got good times.”

“But we need to get down to the port,” Mari said, exasperated. “Are you saying there’s not much traffic between here and there at this hour?”

“Not much, no. During the day we’d blend in. But at night we’ll stand out.”

Their group cut through a swarm of commons that split like a frightened school of fish to make way for the Mechanics in front and the Mages behind them. “At least all of the other Mechanics are busy trying to catch us and we don’t have to worry about being spotted,” Mari remarked.

“Unfortunately for that idea, one approaches even now,” Alain warned.

Mari turned to see a Mechanic hurrying toward them, her jacket easy to spot in the crowd. “I had to open my big mouth. Does anybody know her?” The Mechanic looked young, about Mari’s age.

“It’s Bev.” Alli waved in greeting. “I think she’ll be all right, but act casual, Dav.”

“Casual? We’re both armed and the city is being blown apart back there.”

“Just try.”

“Bev’s a little… high-strung, Alli,” Dav protested. “Are you sure she won’t blow her circuit breaker when she sees us?”

“I think she deserves a chance,” Alli said firmly.

The other Mechanic came running up, breathing heavily. “Alli, Dav? What’re you doing? They sent me to find you guys. The Guild needs every—” Bev’s eyes had been wandering across the group as she spoke and now came to rest on Mari. “Oh, no.” Bev’s hand went for her waist, where a holstered revolver was visible.

Dav was the closest and grabbed her arm. “Bev, it’s all right.”

“All right? Don’t you know who she is? That’s her!”

“I know.” Dav shrugged apologetically. “I’m with her now. Me and these others.”

“Dav, that’s crazy! Let go of me. If the Guild finds out, they’ll kill you!”

Told you, Dav mouthed at Alli.

“Bev,” Alli insisted, “you can trust Mari.”

“We have to follow orders, Alli!” Bev pleaded.

Mari stepped forward, eyeing Bev. “Why are you working for people who want to kill your friends?”

Bev froze, staring at Mari like a bird viewing a snake that was ready to strike. “Don’t talk to me.”

“Mechanic Bev, you—”

“Don’t talk to me! I don’t know how you managed to get your hooks into Dav and Alli, but you won’t mess up my mind!” Bev struggled harder and Dav had to use both arms to restrain her. Commons walking past were averting their eyes, trying to avoid any involvement with this strange Mechanic altercation.

Alli came closer, her voice and face pleading. “Bev, you can trust Mari,” she repeated. “Mari is not like what the Guild says. I’ve known her almost all my life.”

“Trust her? And not trust the Guild? You’re turned inside out, Alli. We have to trust the Guild! The Guild is our only family, remember?”

Something broke inside Mari as those words tore the still-thin skin off a deep wound that had only lately begun to heal. “The Guild stole our families, our mothers and our fathers,” she almost shouted. “They did it to me and I’m sure they did it to you. You never heard from your common family after you went to Mechanics schools, did you? Neither did I, and our oh-so-nice Senior Mechanics told us that’s what commons did. Let me tell you, they lied. Your parents, my parents, tried to stay in touch, and the Guild destroyed every letter and package they sent and destroyed everything we tried to send. And all of you, like me, were too ashamed to admit that hurt and too brainwashed to realize that the Guild was lying to us. Is that who you want us to trust, Mechanic Bev? The Guild that stole our true parents so it could become a false parent that would use us as it saw fit?” She stopped speaking, her heart pounding with pent-up rage now released again. “Go to your true parents. They’ll tell you. They still love you.”

Alli and Bev were staring at Mari, their faces pale with shock. Dav, who Mari suspected had Mechanic parents, seemed both shocked and ashamed. Bev glared at Mari for a long moment before she could speak. “No! You’re lying! That can’t be true!” She suddenly collapsed in Dav’s grip. Dav pulled the pistol from her holster and let her slump to the ground. “It can’t be true,” Bev whispered. “It’s all I have left.”

“What do we do with her?” Alain asked. “We cannot stay here.”

Mari looked to Alli. “I don’t want to hurt her.”

Alli was still apparently stunned. “Hurt her? Stars above, Mari. If what you say is true…” Alli swallowed. “Oh, no.”

Mari knew just how they felt, but she could also feel the looming threat of their pursuers. “Snap out of it, people! I know what this feels like. Believe me. It’s not too late to reconcile with your real families. But we can’t stand around discussing it right now!”

Bev had fallen to a sitting position, her knees up and her face in her hands, sobbing. Mari knelt beside her. “I’m sorry.”

The other Mechanic raised her face enough to look at Mari, her expression angry and torn. “What?”

“I’m sorry. You can come with us, or you can stay. We’ll tie you up so you can say you fought us.”

“And if I want to tell the Guild where you are?” she asked in a strained voice.

Mari stood up, sighing. “Go ahead.”

“What?”

“Go ahead. I’ve hurt you enough.”

The others came forward in a group. “Mari—” Alain began.

“No! We let her go if that’s what she wants.” Mari knew her voice was torn with emotion and the strain of all they had been through recently. “I’ve hurt her enough today and I’m sorry, Mechanic Bev.”

Alli knelt this time. “Bev, please. At least don’t tell the Guild where we are. For Dav and me.”

Bev stood up slowly, wiping her face roughly. “That person, that Mari, she said she was sorry.” Bev glared at Mari. “No one in the Guild has ever apologized to me. Ever.”

Alli hung her head. “Bev was an apprentice in Emdin,” she murmured, as if that explained everything.

Bev took a step to stand close to Mari, staring directly into her eyes. “If you betray me, I swear I’ll kill you. I swore I’d kill the next person who betrayed me. I thought the Guild was all I had left. Will you give me something else?”

Mari nodded, her face solemn, for once feeling no doubt about what to say. “I will if you will let me. You can help me on the biggest and most important repair job ever. You can help me fix this world.”

Bev inhaled deeply, as if she had stopped breathing and only now remembered to do it. “The Guild has barricades on all of the roads to the lower port. They’re checking anyone passing through. They’ve told the city authorities that two mass murderers are trying to escape them, and they’re forcing the city guard to provide assistance.”

“How do we get past that?” Mechanic Dav asked in despairing tones.

“We could head into the mountains,” Mage Asha suggested, her placid voice sounding strange amid all the emotion.

“We?” Bev glared at Asha. “Mages?” Asha gazed back, her expression unchanging.

“They’re different than we’ve been told,” Mechanic Dav told her.

“I’ll take your word for that,” Bev stated in a rush, as if now that she was committed she didn’t want anything to make her doubt that decision. “We can’t go inland, either. The paths into the mountains are also being blocked.”

“How can they occupy so many barricades? How many Mechanics are there on this island?” Mari erupted.

“I told you, they’ve got the city guard helping, and the island militia.” Bev pointed toward the warehouse district. “Did you hear the biggest explosion back there a while ago? I heard Senior Mechanics telling city officials that you did it, that you intended doing the same to schools and hospitals.”

“Schools and hospitals?” Mari knew her revulsion was showing. “That is so sick even to suggest.”

“But it means the commons on Altis want to help capture you!”

“We could change that,” Alain suggested. “If they knew you were actually the daughter—”

“Alain, if I tell the commons of this city that, they’ll try to rise up right now!” Mari whispered angrily. “Just like those commons on the Sun Runner almost did. And all of these Mechanic professional killers will murder them in huge numbers. We can’t start the rebellion here. Even if the commons here won, Altis isn’t big enough or isolated enough for us to build up the power we need to confront the Great Guilds! They’d isolate the island and kill everyone on it!”

Alain thought, then nodded. “You are correct. But it may be necessary to tell the commons in order for us to escape this city. We may have to… trust in their ability to act wisely.”

“You may be right, and sooner or later we will have to do that, but we’re not at that point yet.” Mari paused to think, feeling the stares of six other people on her. Time was working against them. Every moment spent thinking, spent cautiously making their way to safety, was a moment for their enemies to concentrate force against them. “All right, then.” She pulled out her pistol and checked the clip, ignoring the passing commons who were trying not to notice the weapon. Making sure she had plenty of bullets still in the pistol, Mari returned it to its holster. “Here’s what we’ll do. It’s already past midnight, and the city is crawling with people looking for us. If we try to sneak out it’ll take forever and we’ll likely run into barriers anyway.”

“Then how do we get out?” Mechanic Dav asked.

Mari pulled out her Mechanics jacket and put it on. “We’re four Mechanics and three Mages. We’re done sneaking around. We’re going to walk down toward the low port like we own this city, and we’re going to walk right up to whatever barricade they’ve put up across this street, and if anyone tries to stop us we start breaking stuff. If we absolutely need to, we’ll let the common troops know who I am rather than kill them.” She gave her followers a confident look, settling the jacket on her shoulders and trying to ignore the knots in her stomach. “What do you say?”

“That’s crazy,” Alli replied. Then she grinned. “I like it.”

Asha and Mage Dav nodded to each other. “The plan is acceptable,” Asha advised.

Mechanic Dav shrugged. “I’m not staying behind if the rest of you are going.”

Mari gave Bev a look. “You?”

Bev stared back. “Who’s in the lead? Who takes the first bullet?”

“I’m in the lead. I take the first bullet.”

“Unless I take it first,” Alain added.

“Fine.” Bev nodded. “What’re we waiting for?”

Mari glanced unobtrusively at Alain, who nodded slightly to indicate that Bev was not lying, then gestured to Mechanic Dav. “Give her back her weapon.”

They headed out, Mari and Alain in front, the three other Mechanics right behind, and the other two Mages trailing. Mari let herself adopt the Mechanic attitude she had once used as a matter of course, even though she had never been able to affect a swagger. The commons on the street made way for them, though some couldn’t help staring at how closely a pair of Mages was following some Mechanics.

Mari nudged Alain. “Do you want to put on your robes?”

“No. That would make it too hard for me to walk alongside you without attracting too much attention.”

“You don’t need to walk alongside me. I’ll be fine.” He shook his head, so Mari continued. “Alain, you’d better not mean what you said about taking a bullet for me. I told you the first time we met that I don’t let other people die if I can help it, and the man I love is very high on my list of people I won’t let die. At the top, actually.”

“Mari.” Alain looked down for a moment, his face composed. “The worst may happen. As you said once, it may happen at any time. If that occurs, you must move on without me.”

She stared straight ahead. “No.”

“There would someday be another man you could love.”

“Are you saying I should hang out around Mage Guild Halls until another Mage exactly like you walks out? Alain, if you die, my bonfire goes out and there’ll be nothing but ashes left inside me. Sorry. That’s just the way it is.” They walked in silence for a few more steps. “But if something happens to me, you find yourself someone else.”

His voice sounded openly incredulous. “You do realize you are being a little inconsistent?”

“So what’s your point?” She saw the barricade ahead. “Here we go.” Mari turned her head to speak to those behind her. “Remember, everybody. We own this city.”

The street down here, roughly midway between the city of Altis proper and the port, wasn’t well lit, and the partial moon didn’t help much. The two dots in the sky which marked the Twins that perpetually chased the moon provided little light. Mari felt confident that she wouldn’t be recognized until she reached the other Mechanics. At least, she hoped that would be the case. She walked briskly up to the barricade, remembering to set her face in the arrogant lines of some of the other Master Mechanics she had known. The two Mechanics at the barricade, both with rifles cradled in their arms, watched the approach of Mari and the three other Mechanics with no sign of alarm. That wasn’t surprising, Mari realized, since they had undoubtedly been told to watch for one or two, not four. “You’ve got new orders,” Mari called out as she reached the barricade. “We’ll take this post. You’re to report back to the Guild Hall.”

The older Mechanic, a woman with a hard face, held out her hand. “You know the rules for this operation. All orders in writing.”

Alli called out a greeting, her voice thick with sarcasm. “Senior Mechanic Larissa. Just my luck that I’d see you tonight.”

The Senior Mechanic glared at Alli. “What are you doing here? I told you that one more screw-up and you’d be—”

“Excuse me,” Mari interrupted, cued by Alli that this Senior Mechanic needed to be dealt with, not negotiated with. “I’ve got your orders right here.” She reached casually into her jacket, then drew her pistol with one smooth motion, leveling the barrel a hand’s-width from the woman’s nose. “Any questions?”

Senior Mechanic Larissa was still gaping at Mari when Alli, Mechanic Dav and Bev rushed in to seize the rifles and pistols that she and the other Mechanic at the barricade were carrying. “Tie them up,” Mari ordered, then turned to point at the unit of Altis city guard members who were watching the scene with confusion. “This operation has been canceled by order of the Guild Master. Return to your normal duties.”

The city guard members shuffled their feet, looking uncertain. Then their leader spoke hesitantly. “Our orders are from the city, Lady Mechanic. We can’t leave unless they tell us.”

The older female Mechanic had finally found her voice. “It’s them, you fools!” A moment later Alli stuffed a gag in her mouth.

“Them?” The city guard’s leader hefted his short sword. “You mean—?”

Mari brought her pistol up to aim at him, her arm fully extended, then lowered it again as she decided that a threat wasn’t the right approach. “You don’t want to do that. We intend no harm to anyone here. We’re on your side, and we’re leaving this city to prevent the Guild from doing any more damage. Please don’t get in the way.”

The guard leader hesitated again.

Alain came to stand beside Mari, wearing his Mage robes now. “Do you need assistance, Lady Mari?” he asked her.

The militia and their leader gaped at Alain, then at Mari. “A Mechanic with a Mage?” the leader said in strained tones. He looked closely at Mari. “Young. Dark hair. Are you the daughter? Is this your Mage?”

Mari realized at that moment that this was the first time she would be making such a declaration in public, and found herself reluctant to say the words. “I am Lady Master Mechanic Mari.”

“But are you… ?”

“I am the daughter,” Mari said, feeling as if she had just stepped off the edge of a high cliff.

“No wonder the Guild wants us to believe that you are a danger!” the unit leader cried, beginning to sheath his sword. But then he paused and looked at the bound Mechanics, the sword poised in his hand.

“No!” Mari ordered, and all of the common soldiers straightened to attention to listen to her. “Not here, not now, and I will not ever have mass killing or revenge killing of anyone!” She swung an arm back to indicate Alli, Dav and Bev. “Some Mechanics are my friends and allies. You can’t tell which are which. Just as important, right now the Mechanics Guild has a heavily armed unit of assassins here, hunting me. They are causing a lot of the destruction, and if they turn their guns on the people of this city there is no telling how many would die. You must hold back a little longer, wait for me to build up strength. You’ll hear of it, I promise you. You must keep control, maintain order among yourselves, and protect your people and your homes. When the time is right, the Great Guilds will be overthrown and all will be free to rule themselves.”

She wondered where that speech had come from, the words appearing in her mind as if from deep inside her. But Mari saw the effect those words had on the commons, and was grateful for whatever inspiration had provided them.

The leader of the militia saluted. “Yes, Lady Mari. What are your wishes now?”

“Go and tell the leaders of Altis what is really happening, and of my wishes in the matter. A new day will come for this world, but you must wait for your own protection and not act against the Great Guilds tonight. I deeply regret the damage done here by the Mechanics Guild’s attempts to kill me, but I am going now and the wrath of my former Guild will follow me.”

The leader saluted again, then turned to his militia unit. “You heard Lady Mari! Let’s go!” The militia raced off into the night, every common waving at or saluting Mari as they left.

Alli shook her head. “You’re riding a locomotive downhill with the throttle full-out and trying to slow it down with just the brakes. But if anybody can do it, it’s you.” She pointed to the two bound Mechanics. “We’ve got all of their weapons and they’re tied up. Doesn’t your pistol use this same ammunition?”

“Yes!” Mari stuffed bullets into the pocket of her jacket. “I resupplied myself on the Queen, but I was afraid I’d never get another chance at more ammo, and I burned through a lot tonight.” Then she knelt before the two Mechanics. “If you cause harm to any common in this city, I’ll be back for you. The assassins of the Guild couldn’t kill me, so if you harm anyone, no one will stop me from making sure you personally pay the price.” She glanced at Alli, Dav and Bev, indicating the Mechanic with the Senior Mechanic. “What about this guy?”

Bev shook her head. “Total careerist and backstabber. On his way to Senior Mechanic status himself.” Dav and Alli nodded in agreement.

Mari focused on the Senior Mechanic and the Mechanic again. “Remember what I told you,” she said in as menacing a tone as she could manage, then stood up to gaze down the street. “It’s all downhill to the landing, right? Let’s see what kind of pace we can maintain.” She began walking quickly down the hill, a feeling of urgency growing within her.

The road down to the low port was as unused at this hour as Mechanic Dav had predicted. Mari felt her hopes rising, but unexpectedly another barricade loomed out of the dark just short of the port. Mari slowed her walk, grateful for the chance to rest a little and knowing her companions also needed the break. “Bev, Dav, Alli, what is this? Any idea?”

“No.” Bev came up beside Mari, her breathing coming fast. “I’ll find out.”

“Wait! You could get killed!”

Bev smiled humorlessly at Mari. “There are worse things than death.” Bev spun and started jogging ahead, running right up to the barricade. As she reached it, a bright light flared. A portable electric light, spotlighting Bev. She held up both hands. “I’m from the city! The Guild sent me down with a message!”

Three figures appeared, all holding Mechanic weapons. One aimed at Bev, while the others pointed toward Mari and the rest of her followers. “Anyone coming down this road is to be disarmed and held for inspection,” someone at the barricade called out.

“Asha, Mage Dav,” Mari said in a low voice. “Can you destroy that light somehow?”

Mari had expected a Mage spell, but to her shock a long Mage knife was thrown from behind her, spinning end over end overhead. The knife slammed into the light, which went out with a loud popping sound.

“That worked,” she heard Alli say as they all broke into a run.

One of the Mechanics at the second barricade fired at Mari, his shot whipping past her. Bev had grabbed the weapon of the man facing her, and as they struggled Mari and her friends arrived. Mari kept running. She ducked as her closest opponent awkwardly swung her rifle like a club, then came in under the swing and rammed her elbow into the other’s stomach. Her foe doubled over and fell back, dropping her rifle, as Mari staggered to one side. A moment later Mechanic Dav had that Mechanic’s arms pinned behind her.

Mari looked around. Between her Mechanics and her Mages, all of the Mechanics at the barricade had been disarmed and restrained. “Is anybody hurt?”

“Do you mean us or them?” Bev asked, her voice gleeful.

“Us. Is anyone hurt?” No one answered, and Mari counted six others standing beside herself. “These certainly aren’t the trained killers we fought up in the city. Where did these guys come from?”

“They’re not anyone I’ve seen around the Guild Hall. Who are you guys?” Mechanic Dav asked.

The three captured Mechanics stared back at him with mingled hostility and confusion. “We’re—” one began.

“Don’t say anything!” another interrupted.

“They must be from the ship in the harbor,” Alli guessed. “Just the three of them. I guess they were supposed to be a last-ditch defense against Mari getting away.”

“No,” Alain corrected. “Their ship will fill that role.”

“Oh, right.”

Mari looked at the three Mechanics, brushing back her hair in worry. “I don’t like fighting other Mechanics.”

Alli nodded. “I know, Mari. But in some ways we’ve been fighting other Mechanics all of our lives.”

“I guess.” She addressed the three Mechanics. “We don’t know you so we don’t know if we can trust you, but we won’t hurt you. You’ll be tied up, but you won’t be harmed.”

Mage Asha had pried her knife free of the broken light as if the task were an everyday occurrence.She and Mage Dav began walking down to the landing. Mari stayed at the barricade for a moment, watching as the three Mechanic crew members were tied up as quickly and efficiently as possible. She finally went down to the landing proper, where the lapping of the small swells in the harbor sounded peaceful and relaxing after all the chaos she had endured so far this night. This far from the city, the destruction still being wreaked in the warehouse area sounded as muffled rumbles and echoes. The Mages were waiting at the landing alongside a skiff that looked like it just might carry everyone. Two commons wearing the clothing of sailors stood to one side, watching everything with wide eyes.

“These shadows brought us here and will return us to my ship,” Mage Dav said.

“Hi,” Mari said, knowing that Mage Dav and Asha would not offer any other introduction or acknowledgement of the two sailors. “We’re in a big hurry.”

The other Mechanics joined her and Mari gestured for everyone to board, though Alain insisted on waiting beside her. Finally she got in, too, worried as she saw how heavily laden the boat appeared. Alain followed, the boat wallowing in the water as the sailors cast off with worried looks and cautiously began rowing out into the harbor. Even though an occasional boom still echoed from the city, the port remained dark except for a scattering of lights in what Mari assumed was the entertainment district for sailors. “Where’s the Mechanic ship?” she asked the sailors. “Steam and sails, deck gun, arrived within the last few days.”

One of the sailors nodded. “Aye, Lady Mechanic. That ship lies off to starboard there. Is that where you wish to be taken instead of to the Gray Lady?”

“No. Thank you,” Mari answered in a dry voice. Mage Dav, though the owner of the ship, didn’t seem interested in telling anyone what to do. “We need the Gray Lady. Then we need to get out of this port as fast and quietly as possible.”

The sailors grinned knowingly. “Trouble with the authorities?”

“Right,” Mari assured them. She pointed back to where the sounds of destruction still rumbled. “That’s going on because they’re after us.”

The sailors exchanged looks and then bent to their oars, driving the boat ahead at a faster rate.

Despite Mari’s fears and an occasional larger swell that slopped a small amount of water over the side of the skiff, they made the Gray Lady without sinking. Mari climbed aboard the small clipper-rigged ship, delighting in the trim shape it showed in the starlight. Some machines were clunky and some were sleek. This particular sailing machine was a thing of beauty.

A man with a nicely trimmed beard approached Mari and Mage Dav, his manner deferential but not servile. “Sir Mage, we’ve been watching and hearing the events up in the city. Where and when do we sail?”

Mage Dav simply indicated Mari.

“I guess I’m still in charge,” she said. “You’re the captain? We need to leave port now without anyone noticing.”

“We can do that. The harbor guard won’t know we’re gone.”

“I’m more worried about the Mechanic ship.” Mari pointed out the silhouette of the much larger Mechanic vessel.

“Mechanics fear a Mechanic ship?” The captain rubbed his chin, eyeing her, then the other Mechanics and the Mages. “You wouldn’t be the daughter, would you?”

“Yes,” Mari admitted. It was easier to say this time. “But call me Lady Mari. Is there anybody on Dematr who hasn’t heard about me?”

“Not on this ship, anyway. Some months ago every tavern on the waterfront of Marida had men and women telling how they’d seen you in the Northern Ramparts and what you’d done there.” The captain bowed. “It’s an honor to sail with you, daughter. But that Mechanic ship has a big weapon on her deck.”

“I know. If they open fire, try not to get hit by it.”

The captain grinned. “I never thought to meet a Lady Mechanic after my own heart. You heard Lady Mari, you tars,” he ordered his crew. “Get anyone still sleeping up here now. It’ll be dawn soon and we need to be gone before then even though we’ll have to fight the tide.”

Alain had remained amidships at the rail, leaning on it and looking weary. Mari came back to stand by him. “We’re almost out of here.”

“Yes,” he agreed, then frowned noticeably, a sign of how tired he was. “Something is missing.”

“What?” Mari had learned not to question Alain’s judgment in a crisis.

Alain looked back and up. “The city lies silent. There is no more sound of Mechanic warfare.”

Mari followed his gaze, trying to fight off another wave of anxiety. “Then they’ve figured out that we’re not where they’ve been blowing up stuff. Or maybe they think we’re there, but dead and buried under rubble.”

“Or they have found or heard from the Mechanics at the first barricade we went through—which means they will soon find the second barricade we took.”

“Which means they’ll know we’re on the water,” Mari finished. “Captain! Get this thing moving!”

The clanking of the capstan announced the anchor coming up and other sailors rushed upward to spread and trim the sails. The Gray Lady wore round under her sails, gently gathering headway under the soft breeze which was all they had to work with. “We won’t be going anywhere fast fighting that tide,” the captain announced.

Mari met the gazes of her followers: Alli grinning, confident beyond reason; Mechanic Dav chewing his lip as he stared at the dark shape of the Mechanic ship; Bev standing by the rail with a worried expression; the Mages Asha and Dav as apparently unworried and unemotional as ever; and Alain right beside her. Mari felt totally worn out as she swayed slightly with the movement of the ship and wondered how Alain was able even to stand after his exertions earlier in the evening and then the long trek down to the harbor. “We’ve got four rifles. Alli, Mechanic Dav and Bev take three of them and line up at the rail with me facing the Mechanic ship so we can shoot if we have to.”

“Rifles against that?” Mechanic Dav asked, pointing to the Mechanic ship. The tide was forcing the Gray Lady closer to the Mechanic vessel as she tried to beat her way out to sea, so that the shape of the deck gun was now possible to make out as a dark, deadly silhouette between the masts of the large sailing ship.

“It’s what we’ve got,” Mari said, trying to sound firm and confident.

“They’ve got a far-talker on board. Once they hear we were at the landing…”

“They’ve already heard,” Alli interrupted, pointing.

Mari stared through the nigh, seeing the dim, distant shapes of sailors rushing along the deck of the Mechanics Guild ship to the big deck gun, pulling off its canvas covering. The Gray Lady had been borne by the tide so far to starboard that they were within hailing distance of the Mechanic ship, and a moment later a voice came to them faintly over the water, magnified by a speaking trumpet. “Ahoy the ship! Heave to and await our boat!”

The captain gave Mari a questioning look. “Tell him we’re on official business for the Mechanics Guild,” Mari suggested.

Shrugging in a why-not way, the captain hoisted his own speaking trumpet. “Ahoy the Mechanic ship! We’re on official business for the Mechanics Guild, and the Mechanics aboard will not allow me to heave to.”

Unfortunately, that bought far less time than Mari had hoped. A reply came almost immediately. “That is a lie! Heave to in the name of the Mechanics Guild! No ships are allowed to leave this harbor by order of the Guild!”

The captain lowered his speaking trumpet. “Any more suggestions, Lady Mari? If I announce that the daughter is aboard, every other ship in the harbor will likely come to our aid.”

“And be sunk,” Mari added grimly. “They couldn’t get here in time to help us, anyway.”

The big deck gun on the Mechanic ship was training around to point at the Gray Lady. The sky was beginning to brighten in the east, making the Mechanic ship a little easier to discern but making the Gray Lady an easier target as well. “We’ll dodge, as you suggested, Lady, but we’re making little headway and our turns will have more in common with the sway of an old drunk than with the swerve of the barmaid evading his grasp,” the Gray Lady’s captain advised.

Alli was shaking her head. “Do you realize there’s no action around their boat at all? They’re just planning on blowing us away and hope we’ll stop so we’ll make an easier target for that cannon. Oh, I wish I could build a gun like that.”

Mari found herself momentarily struck by the absurdity of the comment after Alli’s all-too-likely assessment of the Mechanic ship’s intentions. “Alli, if we get out of this, I’ll let you build guns a lot better than that one. Heavy artillery that will fire over the horizon.”

“Really? That’ll be so cool. I can’t wait.” Alli shook her head again as she looked at the Mechanic ship. “I hope we survive.”

“Me, too,” Mari said. “Everybody, rifles up.” She pumped the lever on the rifle she had acquired at the barricades, then brought it to her shoulder, aiming at the figures of Mechanics on the other ship. Mechanics wearing the same jacket she wore, maybe people she had known in other places, studied beside as an apprentice, worked beside as a Mechanic. “I don’t want to do this,” she whispered to Alain.

“You may not have to.” Alain was standing at the railing, facing the Mechanic ship. “Is it made of wood?”

“Is what made of wood?” Mari asked, sighting toward the person aiming the deck gun.

“The Mechanic ship,” Alain explained patiently.

“Yes, sure. That ship has a boiler, you can see the stack, but it also depends on sails. Only two of the remaining steam-powered ships are made of metal, and they don’t have masts like that, and you and I almost sank one of those a few weeks ago anyway. Even though this one probably has some metal hull plating for armor, the decks and the hull underneath are all wood.”

The voice from the Mechanic ship called again. “This is your final warning! Heave to now or we will fire upon you! There will be no warning shots!”

Bev stood at the rail to one side of Mari, face set, her rifle steady. “Thanks,” she whispered to Mari. “Even if we die in the next few minutes, you gave me something worthwhile to fight for.”

Mari blinked sweat from her eyes, wishing that she weren’t so tired, trying to hold a good aim at the crew of the deck gun and knowing the Gray Lady was well within range of the big gun but that the Mechanic ship was outside the effective range of their rifles.

“Do not let me fall,” Alain said in that same calm voice.

As soon as Alain’s words registered in her brain, Mari forgot about aiming. She jerked around to stare at him. Alain was standing very still, his gaze locked on the Mechanic ship, hands held at waist height and spread well apart. Something glowed there as enough heat radiated for Mari to feel it easily where she stood. Then the glow was gone and Alain was falling toward the rail, gone limp and possibly unconscious. Mari dropped her rifle onto the deck, grabbing Alain and yanking him back onto the deck before he could go overboard.

“Wow!” Mari heard Alli exclaim as a crash and roar sounded. Thinking the deck gun had fired, Mari crouched down over Alain to shield him with her body even though her mind knew that small amount of protection would do no good at all against the destruction that would be wrought by the deck gun’s shell.

But no shell came to shatter the Gray Lady and her passengers. Asha was kneeling beside her, offering with a gesture to hold Alain safe and pointing toward the Mechanic ship. Mari stood, turning to look back and stopping in mid-turn.

The deck of the Mechanic ship was ablaze between the mainmast and the deck gun, flames leaping upward to devour the rigging and spreading outward along the railings. Figures were running frantically from the deck gun. Mari stared, trying to figure out why they weren’t rushing to fight the fire.

“Mari!” she heard Alli yell. “The ready ammunition! Get down!”

Suddenly she realized what Alli was talking about. The big shells stacked next to the deck gun, the flames licking about them as she watched. “Everybody!” Mari shouted. “Hit the deck! As fast as you can!” Disregarding Asha, she dropped down next to Alain and pulled herself over his unconscious body again. “You put everything into that fire to try to save us,” Mari whispered in Alain’s ear, “and if it doesn’t work you’re helpless. I’m going to give you an incredibly hard time for taking that risk once you wake up. But until then I’m going to keep you as safe as I can.”

A titanic roar born of multiple explosions merging into one sounded from the direction of the Mechanic ship. Mari buried her head next to Alain’s, her arm over his face, as pieces of shrapnel tore past overhead, then waited as more fragments of metal and wood rained down upon them. Finally she rose up to look at the Mechanic ship.

A giant had taken a huge bite out of the Mechanic ship where the deck gun had been. The gun itself had fallen through the main deck and lay canted at a crazy angle, barrel pointed almost straight up. Flames had completely engulfed the forward part of the ship, the mainmast had already fallen and, as Mari watched, the foremast toppled slowly sideways like a tree falling to the axe, the top half crashing into the water of the bay and the bottom part lying across the deck of the doomed ship. Mechanics and apprentices were jumping off the ship and into the water, where chunks of wood that once had been part of the ship now served as improvised life preservers and rafts.

Overhead, the sails of the Gray Lady were pocked with small holes caused by debris hurled from the blast, and here and there pieces of the rigging hung limp where they had been sliced through.

Alain blinked, looking up with eyes bleary with exhaustion. Mari met his gaze. “That was stupid,” she told him angrily. Then she kissed him. “Thank you. I love you.” Alain’s lips curved into a barely visible smile as he passed out again.

Alli was back on her feet, gazing at the devastated Mechanic ship. “Wow,” she repeated. “Alain has got to show me how to do that.”

Mari laughed. “Alli, stick to regular explosives.” She staggered to her own feet. “Is everyone all right?” Mari saw the captain watching her with an awed expression. “Captain, let’s get out of here!”

“Yes, Lady Mari!” he cried. “And thanks to your Mage for our salvation this day!”

Though they saw some harbor guard vessels veering in to rescue the crew of the Mechanic ship, which was now on fire from stem to stern and lighting up the entire harbor with its death throes, none of the guard boats made any move to intercept the Gray Lady. Instead, they all took care to avoid the ship with four Mechanics and two Mages visible at the rail. One harbor guard craft armed with a small ballista on the bow angled past the Gray Lady close enough that the crew was clearly visible, all of them gazing fixedly toward the wreck of the Mechanic ship as if the Gray Lady did not exist.

“They must have heard what you told those commons,” Mechanic Dav said in a wondering voice. “We’ve got commons helping us because they want to, not because they have to. That’s so weird. I didn’t think anybody could do that, Mari.”

They cleared the harbor, past fortifications which remained silent as the Gray Lady passed, as the blazing wreck of the Mechanic ship finally sank to settle on the harbor bottom. In the growing light of day it was easy to see a huge cloud of dust and smoke rising over the city of Altis, illuminated from within here and there by fires still raging in various places.

Alli shook her head. “Mari? You really did it this time. I mean, you totally trashed a city, and this harbor is kind of messed up, too.”

Mari laughed, though with no immediate crisis to face she was starting to feel the total exhaustion brought on by the labors of the night before. “I didn’t do that. It was the Mechanics trying to kill me. Do you think the commons will believe that?”

“You already told them, remember? By now the entire city probably knows that the Mechanics Guild tried to murder Lady Mari, the daughter of Jules herself, and that she got away again.” Alli looked at Alain where he still lay on the deck. “She and her Mage. That guy is really handy in an emergency, isn’t he?”

“He’s nice to have around at other times, too.” Mari blinked but couldn’t dispel a haziness in her vision despite the growing light as the sun rose in a blaze of glory. Her mind felt full of fog and her legs wobbled unsteadily. She tried to remember how many hours she had been running and fighting and escaping with barely any pause, but her fatigue blurred recent events into a cloud of disjointed images. “Alli, please take command for a while. Tell the Captain to get us away from Altis, whatever course lets us make the best speed and avoids any pursuers.”

“Sure. What are you going to do?”

Mari looked down at Alain, chest falling and rising as he slept, Asha kneeling nearby. “I’m going to pass out now.” She took a couple of uncertain steps to stand near Asha. “Thanks for everything, Lady Mage. I’ll take it from here.” Dropping down beside Alain on the deck, she rolled next to him and lost consciousness.