Clockwork Twist : Trick (3 page)

Jonas gave a mirthless snort of a laugh. “To hell with Aazzi.  We were going to run away anyway.  Now we've got even more reason to do so, immediately.”

Twist felt as if the ground was turning and shifting under his feet.  Things were changing so quickly it was making him dizzy. “But the plan was to advertise and let Myra dance for the masses.  We can't exactly do that if we're trying to hide.”

Jonas pushed himself off the wall and stepped closer to Twist, staring into his eyes while his own took on a stony, dark purple color.  The deep, constant buzzing sensation at the back of Twist's neck grew more noticeable under the pressure of Jonas's Sight. “Would your world continue to turn if they stole Myra away from you?” he asked, his voice even but unkind.

“No,” Twist answered instantly, glancing away to dim Jonas's ability to use his Sight against him.  The buzzing at his neck itched and burned, making it hard to think of anything other than looking back into Jonas's eyes.  Twist closed his eyes tightly and forced himself not to relent.

“I don't want to live with a hollow shell of you,” Jonas said, crossing his arms. “And what about you?” he asked, as Twist felt his heavy gaze turn away.  He glanced up to find Jonas now looking at Myra with the same deep purple eyes. “Do you want to be taken away from Twist?” he asked her.

“No, never,” she responded just as quickly as Twist had.

“Then what choice have we got?” Jonas asked them both. “We can figure out the details along the way, but right now, all we can do is run.”

“This is a damned bloody waste of time,” Jonas grumbled for the fourth time since they had sat down at a table in the corner of the cafe that Aazzi had indicated. “They know we're not on the
Vimana
.  They could already be searching the city for us.”

“Are you trying to sound paranoid?” Twist asked as he stirred a little cream into his coffee and tried very hard not to look up at Jonas.  Beside him, Myra leaned just a little farther behind the tall potted plant to the side of their shadowed table, and tugged her sari to hide her copper skin just a little more.

“Darling, what if he's right?” Myra asked Twist gently.

“I'm not going to fling you aimlessly across the world, running and hiding like a fugitive, unless I'm absolutely certain that I have to,” Twist said, yet again.  The words were starting to feel comfortable and well-practiced on his tongue.

“You keep saying that, and I might start to believe it,” Jonas said darkly.  Twist felt the heavy draw on his attention: the buzz at his neck sparking brightly as Jonas's eyes dug at him.

“What are you looking for, anyway?” Twist asked, reaching up to rub at his neck as he kept his eyes firmly on his coffee cup.

“Some kind of sense.”

Twist shot him a glare. “Aazzi implied that there might not be any problem at all,” he said with as much conviction as he could muster—well aware that Jonas could see it clearly in his eyes. “I understand your concern, but we might not need to hide at all.  If we don't, we'll have a vastly better life from here on.  I have to take that chance.”

Myra made a mournful tone, her metal hands clasped tightly together on the table top.  When Twist looked to her, he saw her face devoid of its usual brightness and joy.

“I'm so sorry,” she breathed. “This is all my fault...”

“You've done nothing wrong,” Twist said instantly, his voice considerably kinder when he turned it to her.

“If it wasn't for me, you wouldn't be in this mess,” she said, looking to him sorrowfully. “You wouldn't be worried, or in danger, or angry with your friend,” she added, glancing to Jonas.

“Oh no, we argue a lot anyway,” Jonas said with a smile.

“I wouldn't remove myself from your side for all the trouble in the world,” Twist added. “Please, don't blame yourself.”

Myra smiled weakly back to them both in turn. “Oh, you're ever so sweet to me.”

“Can't help it,” Twist said, giving her hands a gentle pat.  A flash of relief came through his Sight at the touch.

“Thank heavens,” a voice said hurriedly, coming closer to the table.  Jonas replaced the black-lensed goggles over his eyes again, apparently out of reflex.  Aazzi took the open seat between Jonas and Twist, and set down a couple of bags at her feet. “I'm very proud of you,” she said to Twist.

“What did I do?”

“You didn't let him push you into running,” Aazzi said, nodding to Jonas.

“Hey!”

“You're as predictable as the sunrise,” Aazzi snapped back at Jonas before turning back to Twist.  Even a few feet away, Twist could feel true anger—and not just the frustration and annoyance he had personally caused—wafting off of Jonas like a toxic heat.  It whispered at the vibration in his neck, calling his own heart to burn as well. “Now,” Aazzi said to Twist, “did he explain anything about what's happening here?”

“Yes, he told me in great detail exactly why we can't let those men have Myra,” Twist answered, fighting to keep his mind clear.

“Well, you're in luck,” Aazzi said with a nod. “They didn't send Rook agents,” she said to Jonas. “It’s just a low grade, unarmed, collection team.  They didn't expect a problem.”

“They thought we'd just give her up?” Jonas asked, curiosity poking holes in his smoldering anger.

“They thought we'd sell her for the right price,” Aazzi explained. “They don't seem to realize that we see her as a friend.” Myra's face appeared surprised, but she said nothing.  “Howell told them the truth—that you three were out exploring the city and that you should be back any time now.”

“How is any of this lucky?” Twist asked, fighting very hard to ignore Jonas's anger.

“Because they still don't have any idea that we are going to run,” Jonas answered.

“More than just that,” Aazzi said, “we might be able to get them to back off completely.”

“Wait, you want us to run too?” Twist asked.

“How could we get them off our backs?” Jonas asked tartly.

“I have a friend in Paris—Philippe's uncle, actually—who works in the field,” Aazzi said. “He builds human-shaped machines that he calls robots.  Apparently, it’s a Bohemian technology that he's trying to perfect.  They're nothing like Myra: just soulless shells that look something like people.  But he's an expert on the subject and a consultant for the Rooks.  If you can get to him directly, and get him to declare her just another robot, then they will have no cause to trouble us again,” she finished with a proud smile.  Twist looked to Jonas.

“Are you insane?” Jonas asked Aazzi sharply, seeming to glare squarely at her through the black lenses.

Aazzi frowned. “It's a perfect solution.”

“We only have a handful of unarmed low-level thugs to deal with right now, but you want us to walk right into the middle of a hornet's nest, on purpose, and hope your weird uncle sees things our way.  How the hell is that a good idea?”

“If we tell the thugs about her,” Aazzi said with measured patience, “they'd still have to take her in to let their suppressor make the decision.  If you go to them instead, it shows initiative and would help to show how much you care about her—that she isn't some
thing
that can be bought and sold.”

“And what happens if this expert doesn't go along with it?” Jonas asked.

“He's family!” Aazzi said, exasperated.

Twist rubbed at his face while the others continued to argue.  He could easily see the logic of both points of view, and the flaws in each plan as well.  Neither one seemed like a perfect solution.  His instincts had always helped him solve complicated problems before, but this time he couldn't use his Sight.  He couldn't find the source of the problem in all the complexity of it.

He looked to Myra and found her watching the argument with a sheepish and forlorn expression.  Twist reached out to touch her wrist, drawing her attention.  Her emotions ran cold and fearful over his fingers.  It dimmed his world to see her so unhappy.  He leaned closer to her as Jonas and Aazzi's voice rose.

“My dear,” he said softly to her copper ear, “if you could have anything in the world, regardless of all of this, what would you want?”

She smiled bravely to him. “I just want what you already gave me,” she answered. “I don't want to be alone anymore.  And I want to be with you,” she said, reaching out to toy with the soft black curls behind his ear as her smile took on a deeper hue.  Twist's skin prickled at her touch, sending a delicious chill down his spine.

“Could you be happy if you had to hide?” he asked. “What if you couldn't dance for anyone but me?”

“Well...” she said, her face taking on a hint of bitterness. “As long as I have you, I think I'll be all right,” she said bravely.  Twist felt the lie echo off her metal skin, no matter how she tried to bury it.  Twist felt a solid shift in his own thoughts and emotions as he found the true source of his troubles.

“I understand,” he said with a nod.  He looked up to find Aazzi and Jonas still spitting shards of logic and spite at each other.  He knocked on the table top with his knuckles until they paused to look at him. “I've decided.  I'm taking Myra to your uncle in Paris,” he said to Aazzi.  Then he turned to Jonas. “Are you coming?”

“But—“ Jonas began, while Aazzi smiled victoriously.

“There's a chance that she's right,” Twist said, gesturing to Aazzi. “There's a chance that Myra won't have to hide and live in fear for the rest of her life.  I'm taking it.”

“And if they try to snatch her?” Jonas asked quickly.

“They'll have to kill me before they can take her from me.”  Twist felt a ripple of shock shoot through Myra at the resolute sound of his words. “I want exactly what you want,” he said to her, squeezing her hand gently.

“You are one stubborn little bastard, do you know that?” Jonas grumbled at Twist.

“I've been called worse.  Are you coming or not?”

Jonas's face moved as if he were rolling his eyes behind the opaque goggles. “Yes, of course,” he said on a heavy sigh. “Damn you.”

“Wonderful,” Aazzi said brightly, picking up the bags she had left at her feet and placing them on the table. “Here're your things, and here's the address.”  She handed Twist a slip of paper.

“You packed for us?” Jonas asked, pulling his goggles up just enough to frown at the bags on the table.

“I knew you were leaving the
Vimana
today the moment I saw the Rooks.  The ship's too easy for the Rooks to follow.  And no, Howell and Ara don't know yet.  I'll explain things to them.”

“Thank you,” Twist said.  Jonas said something under his breath.  Myra smiled at Twist from under her purple sari, and he felt a flash of pride bleed through her touch.

Bombay’s harbor was just as crowded and hectic as the train station and air docks had been.  Jonas led as he, Twist, and Myra made their way to the edges of the chaos, and for once he was watching the people around them with uncovered eyes.  Twist pulled close to Myra and spent most of his attention on staying out of the way of the hurried masses of porters, merchants, sailors, and passengers that filled the jetties and loading docks.  Jonas finally turned and sprang quickly up a set of stone stairs that led to a fort overlooking the harbor.

“I don't think we're being followed,” Jonas said as Twist and Myra stopped beside him on the empty stone landing.  He leaned heavily on the landing’s wrought-iron railing and rubbed at his eyes with his palms. “I didn't see anyone who looked like a magpie to me.”

“Are you all right?” Myra asked him gently.

“Yeah, it just stings after a while,” he said.  He took hold of the railing, closed his eyes, and slumped as if exhausted.

“Did you catch anyone's eyes?” Twist asked, peering at him with concern.

“Just flashes,” Jonas said, shaking his head.  He looked at Twist silently.  Twist held his gaze, knowing that looking into his eyes would be soothing to Jonas's Sight.  For a moment, Jonas only stared back while his eyes shifted gently through cool hues and his expression betrayed a hint of relief.

“Now, how are we getting out of Bombay?” Jonas asked suddenly, glancing out over the ships in the harbor.

“I wish we could have taken an airship,” Twist muttered, looking out as well.

“Wow,
you
just said that?” Jonas gasped, looking comically startled.

“You don't like flying?” Myra asked Twist curiously.

“Flying is fine, it's just the height that I could do without,” Twist clarified. “Still, it would be much faster than a sailing ship, wouldn't it?”

“Yes it would, but there aren't any mags here,” Jonas said. “It's just safer this way.  How much money have we got, anyway?”

“I still have most of that share of the reward for Quay,” Twist said.  At the time, he'd thought it strange that Howell had given him a share in the bounty for helping the British Navy to capture the pirate, but now he was suddenly quite grateful.

“Me too,” Jonas said with a nod. “I think we can afford a bribe.”

“We can't just buy a ticket?” Twist asked, looking over the huge, hulking passenger liners that filled the nicer, cleaner parts of the docks.

“We'll leave a trail if we do,” Jonas said. “Once the thugs on the
Vimana
figure out that we've run for it, the first things they'll check are passenger liners.  We need something smaller, less likely, and off the record.”

“Like what?” Twist asked, glancing over the other ships in the harbor.  There was a wide array of vessels, from huge cargo steamers to tiny sailing ships, fishing boats, military ships, and a handful of enormously expensive-looking private yachts.

“Those men are loading cotton,” Jonas said, pointing to the cargo section of the docks.

“Oh, that's a pretty ship!” Myra said, following his indication.

The ship had a small body compared to many of the others—only about a hundred feet long and twenty feet wide, in a gently sloping curve that ended very high in the front—but it had an enormously tall set of three masts.  There was also a steam engine at the stern, with a small smokestack.  The top deck was flat and open, but the decks below sat low and heavy in the water.

“It looks fast, too,” Jonas said.

“But, if they're loading cotton, then isn't it a cargo ship?” Twist asked. “Would they take passengers?  Besides, we don't even know where they're headed.”

“They're headed to Greece,” Jonas said, staring at the ship. “They'll swing around Arabia and take the Suez Canal into the Mediterranean.  We can jump off in Egypt and easily find a way to France from there,” he added with a quick glance to Twist. “It'll only take two days in that kind of ship.  And, although cotton isn't bad, it’s not the best profit you can make on a trip like that.  They won't mind making a little more.”

“How do you know all that?” Myra asked, staring at him in wonder.

Jonas smiled at her. “Twist isn't the only who can do tricks.”

“But that was amazing!” Myra said, beaming at him.  Jonas puffed slightly in the light of her admiration, and he looked back to the ship.

“I could tell you the tonnage, the average speed, and every place that ship's ever going to, but we don't have the time,” Jonas said. “They're going to leave within the hour.  If we want to get on that ship, we'll need to do it now.”

“Is it safe for us to travel with them?” Twist asked, watching the men load the large square bales of cotton.

“They're just a simple shipping crew,” Jonas said with a shrug. “They seem okay to me.”  He paused with a thoughtful frown. “Since when do you care about safety?”

Twist looked to him in shock. “What could make you think I don't?”

“You do spend a lot of time jumping into trouble.”

“For a purpose,” Twist amended.

“Whatever,” Jonas said, looking to the crew now. “Well, they don't look like killers to me.  What do you want to do, ask for character references?”  It took a moment for Twist to realize that he hadn't been serious about the last part.

“Do we have any other options?” Twist asked with a sigh.

“Nothing faster,” Jonas said. “That ship has so many sails it can practically fly.”

“Oh!” Myra chirped and clapped her hands. “Can we take that one, Twist?” she asked him with a pleading but hopeful smile.

“Yes, can we, Twist?” Jonas asked, mimicking her.  Twist shot Jonas a glare before turning to Myra more gently.

“If they will have us,” Twist said to her. “We still haven't asked them.”

“I'll do it,” Jonas said, already heading off down the stairs. “Stay here.  We shouldn't let them see Myra until we have a deal,” he added over his shoulder.

Twist let out a heavy sigh as he watched Jonas move quickly through the thick crowd below.  Beside him, Myra hopped lightly on the balls of her feet.

“This is so exciting!  I just love traveling.”

Twist watched her silently, marveling at the simplicity of her universe.  It wasn't long before Jonas returned with good news.

“They're happy to take our money,” Jonas said as he led Twist and Myra to the ship. “We'll be sleeping in the cargo hold, but it's full of cotton so it shouldn't be too bad.  Oh, and I convinced them to feed us too.”

“Good idea,” Twist muttered.

“I told them we're on a tour, heading back to Europe, and we missed the boat this morning.  We need to catch up with them in Egypt or miss the rest of the tour.  Now we don't look like fugitives.”

“You're very clever, do you know that?” Myra asked him.

“Yes, thank you, I did actually,” Jonas said, smiling to her while Twist shook his head.