Mechanical Hearts (Skeleton Key) (5 page)

“Of course,” I said. Then I shook off the memory of his scent, the strength of his body against mine. “May I use your bathroom? Then I’ll get out of your hair.”

“Down the hall on your right.”

I made my way blindly as my mind raced with plans, all of which I discarded. I made use of the facilities and washed up as best I could. If I had to stay down there much longer, I was going to need a change of clothes before I started to stink.

The scent of coffee wafted in the room, and I clung to it. I’d have a cup and then figure out how to find the mechanical heart
without
Ezra’s help. If he could do it, then so could I.

I found him in the kitchen with the older couple, his daughter, and Tink sitting a table. Tink had another cup of his coffee sitting in front of him.

“And who’s this?” the older man asked as he sipped from a dented cup.

“No one,” Ezra replied. “She’s leaving.”

“What’s your name?” Lina asked as she bounded up to me.

“Caroline,” I answered.

Tink shuffled up to me with a mug, and I accepted, barely managing to stifle the groan of pleasure.

“You can’t just kick the girl out first thing in the morning,” the older woman said.

“No, it’s okay,” I said after a few gulps. “I should be going. I’ve imposed long enough.

“She won’t be going with us, Sir?” Tink asked.

“No,” Ezra said shortly. “She’s leaving.”

I chugged the rest of the coffee and rinsed out my glass in the sink. “Thank you for the coffee and the bed. It was nice to meet you all.”

“I thought we needed another medical officer?” I heard Tink say behind me, and I stopped in my tracks, my heart thumping wildly in my chest. I didn’t dare turn around to see the response on Ezra’s face.

“Yes,” I heard him say hesitantly. “But what does one have to do with the other.”

“She’s going to school to be a healer,” Tink replied.

Then I turned. “How did you know that?”

Ezra sighed in resignation. “He always knows everything.” He took a deep pull from his own cup. “It’s damned irritating.”

“
D
o exactly as I say
, when I say it,” Ezra instructed as we hurried down the busy cobbled streets to the airlock where his submarine was anchored.

I nodded, but he couldn’t see me because he was too busy swiveling his head from side to side to make sure we weren’t attracting any attention.

“If it turns out you aren’t of any help, don’t think I won’t throw you back where you came from the first chance I get.”

“I was just accepted to med school, I’ve been interning with a physician the past three years, and I’ve got common sense. I’ll do my part as long as you do yours.”

“We’ll see,” was all I got in response.

We really needed to work on his verbal skills.

We rounded a corner, and he tucked me into his side. “Don’t say a word until we get onboard, keep your head down and keep up with me.”

I took that to mean that I should be quiet and didn’t respond.

I felt lighter than I had in ages. If he was going to help me get home to Phoebe, I’d pretty much do anything he wanted. If they needed a medical officer, I’d work myself to the bone. Every single person on his ship was going to be in the best shape of their lives when I got done with them.

He tugged at my waist and we were off again, his strides so long, I nearly had to jog to keep up with his pace.

The streets and sidewalks weren’t crowded, but I kept my head down anyway, and we made it to the airlock without being stopped by one of the constables in thick black overcoats and top hats. Tink followed closely behind, his mechanized steps echoing against the gangplank.

I didn’t relax until the airlock door closed behind us and the submarine door opened.

Finally, I was going to go home.

I stepped into the ship with Ezra and Tink following close behind.

“Tink will show you to your quarters,” Ezra said.

“Hopefully not the dungeons this time,” I replied with a grin.

“If you behave,” Ezra said, and I wasn’t sure if he was serious or not.

“This way,” Tink said.

The interior of the ship was tomb-silent, and I realized that the engines were probably off since the crew hadn’t yet made it back.

Tink explained the layout of the sub as we navigated through the passageways. The first level was the captain’s deck or bridge with the navigation and communication systems and the control room where Ezra piloted the craft. The second level was the housing quarters and living space complete with kitchen and showers. The third level was the engine room and weapons system.

The rooms he directed me to were only slightly an upgrade from the dungeons I’d stayed in before.

“Not much, miss, but this is our only empty room.” He glanced at me, and I could have sworn I saw humor in the quirk of his eyes. “Unless you’d like to bunk with the captain himself.”

I took a few rapid steps inside the bunkroom to dispel that notion. “No,” I said hurriedly, “that’s okay. So, what exactly is a mechanical heart, anyway?” I asked as I sat on what would become my bed.

Tink rolled into the room and came to a stop in front of me. “In your world, you had sea creatures, yes?”

I nodded, my eyebrows raised.

“Well,” he continued, “in this world, there was a catastrophic war. Countries fought tirelessly for years, each inventing new and more destructive ways to kill each other. When the dust settled, the world as we knew it was gone. It had changed. Either from the bombs and new tech themselves or from vengeance on the part of the Earth they destroyed. Whatever the cause, humans and animals alike were forever changed.”

I eyed the sea in the place beyond the thick glass window. “Is that why everyone lives down here?” I asked.

“Yes,” he said. “You may have noticed the smell when we rescued you.”

I recalled the stench vividly. “How long has it been that way?”

“Ever since the end of the war. The land was necrotic. It couldn’t sustain crops, couldn’t support the needs of those who had destroyed it. But the land wasn’t the only thing affected. The war nearly destroyed everything. The oceans. The animals. The people. Each new generation born from the remaining population was also affected, or afflicted, with synthetic parts.”

“The prosthetics,” I said, my voice a higher pitch as I connected the dots.

“Correct. All of the animals are the same way,” Tink said. “Except, they are much stronger and much more predatory as a result of that strength. It’s damn hard to fight off a shark with metal armor.”

I shivered just thinking about it. “So, how did you wind up down here?”

“The Tycoon, James Fletcher,” he said.

“No,” I replied.

“Indeed. Before the war, he was the number one supplier of weapons.”

I couldn’t contain my gasp.

“Once the war ended, he was the first to find a new place for the remaining population, such as it was, to live. His company had crafted Port Arliss prior to the war, and he offered it to the people. Originally, he used a power source of his own creation, but after some time, it failed. He had to search for an alternative, or the thousands of inhabitants would die.”

I thought of the families I’d seen, the children. There had to be at least two, maybe even three thousand people there, at the very least. And that was just the first capsule, not even counting the connected ones or the other ports. Literally, the whole of humanity rested on one man’s shoulders. It sure went a long way to explain his demeanor and urgency.

I was only responsible for Phoebe, and the weight of caring for her could nearly crush me at times. I couldn’t imagine how it must have felt to have the fate of the human race relying on my choices.

As I pondered that, Tink continued, “Eventually, Fletcher came to realize he could use the mutated animals to his advantage. It took much trial and error, but he finally discovered that the mutated whales possess a powerful mechanical heart that could power the machines that keep ports like Arliss, and thus the remaining population, alive.”

“And if we find whales and this heart, I’ll be able to use that power to go home?”

For the first time since he began, Tink paused. After a few moments of tense silence, he said, “I’ve never seen it myself as we haven’t needed a new heart in a long time, but with the amount of power they contain, I don’t see why it isn’t a possibility.”

Because I’d do anything to get home, even work for a man like Ezra, I said, “Then I’m at your disposal. What can I do to help while I’m here?”

I regretted asking that question a few hours later.

When there weren’t any of the crewmembers to attend to, I explored the ship. The steam from the engines leaked through the walls and snaked through all of the corridors. The vibrations traveled along all of the walls and even through my bones.

Much as I wanted to get home to my life and to Phoebe, I couldn’t help but be fascinated by the world around me. In between splinting fingers caught between gears and nursing nasty burns with creams, I spent endless hours peering from the window in my room.

The rest of the time I spent pretending not to look around corners for Ezra. I knew it was because I was thankful for his help, even if he gave it grudgingly, but I also knew it was because he, like the world outside my window, intrigued me.

Each time my thoughts drifted to him or I found myself searching for him, I mentally shook my thoughts away from the enigmatic pirate.

On one such occasion, I was wrapping a rather terrible looking gash on one of the crewmembers when my thoughts turned to Ezra’s arm. As I taped up the gauze and sent the man on his way, I wondered what an arm like that would feel around me.

I scoffed at myself as I cleaned up the materials. It was a purely scientific musing, I reasoned, even though I knew I was deluding myself.

I was intent on forgetting the thought when a shudder wracked the entire vessel and threw me to my knees. A decanter of an astringent-smelling liquid burst at my feet and soaked through a dress I’d borrowed. I cursed Ezra, because that made forgetting my earlier thoughts easier.

Then everything was forgotten when another shudder threw me backward into the wall. Shouts penetrated the walls, and footsteps thundered down the hallway beyond my door.

Whatever it was, it didn’t sound good.

I slipped in the spilled liquid as I attempted to get to my feet and landed in the broken glass. I let out a stream of curses as shards of it sliced through my hands. The liquid was some sort of alcohol-based cleaner because as soon as it came in contact with the cuts on my hands, it sucked the breath from my lungs.

Breathing through my teeth, I got to unsteady feet and fumbled with a pack of bandages. I managed to get the shards of glass from my palms without doing any additional damage.

When they were wrapped as best I could, I threw open the door to my room and burst into the hallway. Another blow threw me into the wall and I called out as my hands came in contact with the metal. I tucked them under my arms so as to not cause any more damage as I made my way toward the captain’s room to see what the hell was going on.

The ship was still shuddering from the after-effects from whatever it was and a seed of worry took root in my stomach.

Tink and Ezra were in a flurry of activity when I made it to the front of the ship. I slipped in the room soundlessly as they wrestled with controls. Ezra let out a stream of words that must have been curses.

“What’s going on?” I asked. “What was that?”

Ezra turned at my words, and his eyes automatically went to my hands. “What the devil happened to you?” he asked.

“I’m fine,” I insisted.

“You’re—” he started, but was interrupted by another blow that shook the whole ship. Metal groaned ominously in response. “Sit down there, and hold on. We don’t need you hurting yourself.”

Tink peered inside a spyglass and said, “It’s not leaving, Sir. Evasive measures.”

“Hold on,” Ezra replied. He wrestled with the wheel, and a loud shriek of metal on metal pierced the air.

I didn’t know he was talking to me, though, so when the submarine began to roll, I fell ass over teakettle to the floor for the second time that day.

“Told you to hold on,” Ezra said as I got to my feet.

“What the hell was that?” I let my hands lie limply in my lap and ignored the vicious throbbing.

Tink glanced back at me. “Remember what I said about the enhanced sea creatures?”

I gulped and tried to wet my suddenly dry mouth. “You mean the antagonistic and extremely predatory ones?”

“I see you’re not as clueless as I thought,” Ezra commented.

Before I could retort, the ship’s tail caught on something and we were all thrown forward. I flew to the floor yet again, Ezra wound up halfway across the dash, but Tink still stood in the same position.

“What do we do?” I asked.

“We don’t do anything,” Ezra growled and started to furiously push buttons. “You sit there and we’ll handle this.”

I ignored him and glanced around the cabin for something useful, but I didn’t recognize any of the names for the cabinets. What did I expect? They had different weapons, instruments and tools; the likelihood that I could recognize one, let alone know how to use it, was slim to none.

The helplessness that filled my insides made me glare at Ezra for being right. But I didn’t want to give him the satisfaction, so I limped my way back to my room as he and Tink evaded whatever sea monster had attacked us.

I spent the next few hours tending to the wounded. There were no major injuries, but plenty to keep me busy, and I welcomed the work. It kept me from thinking about what could be happening to Phoebe in my absence.

“Come on in,” I said, but it ended on a strangled note when I found the last person I wanted to see standing in the doorway.

Ezra did as I said and came to a stop in front of me, blood staining the shoulder of his otherwise pristine shirt and soaking a dark patch straight through his signature overcoat.

“Guess we’ll put those skills of yours to the test, Doc,” he said. He shrugged out of his coat without a wince.

I grabbed his uninjured arm, and as the metal twitched beneath my fingers, I remembered my thoughts from earlier that day. I refused to acknowledge them and instead focused on removing his stained shirt and cleaning the wound on his shoulder.

“Was this from earlier?” I asked.

He shrugged, causing fresh blood to seep from the cut. I frowned at him, which seemed to amuse him.

“Ready to give up yet?” he said in lieu of an explanation. “We’re too far to turn back to Arliss, but I can drop you at the next port. I’d understand if it’s too much for a woman.”

The
like you
was implied. Now his princess nickname made sense.

I didn’t give him a warning before applying the antibacterial spray I’d been given, and his hiss of pain gave me a twisted sense of satisfaction.

“I’m doing just fine,” I said. He watched me, or at least, his eyes were locked in my direction, as I layered the wound with a numbing cream and wrapped a thin swatch of gauze around it. When he didn’t turn away, I asked, “What?” with a little more bite than necessary.