Роберт Беннет - Foundryside

“Because there are still thugs out there who want us dead?” asked Berenice.

“There’s that,” said Sancia. “And we’re going to bring a hell of a lot of money with us.”

Four lanterns — three blue, one red, hanging above a warehouse door. Sancia scurried up, looked around, and knocked.

A slot in the door opened and a pair of eyes peeked out. They looked at her and sprang wide. “Oh God! You? Again? I just assumed you were dead.”

“You’re not so lucky,” said Sancia. “I’ve brought you a deal, girl.”

“What? You’re not here to ask for a favor?” said Claudia from the other side of the door.

“Well. A deal and to ask for a favor.”

“Should have known,” said Claudia with a sigh. She opened the door. She was dressed in her usual leather apron and magnifying goggles. “After all, how could you have the resources to offer us a deal?”

“They’re not my resources.” She handed a leather satchel out to Claudia.

Claudia looked at it mistrustfully, then took it and looked inside. She stared. “P-paper duvots?”

“Yeah.”

“This has to be…a thousand, at least!”

“Yeah.”

“What’s it for?” asked Claudia.

“That bit there is to calm you down so you listen. I’ve got a job for you. A big one. And you need to hear me out.”

“What, are you playing at being Sark now?”

“Sark didn’t ask for anything this big,” said Sancia. “I need you and Gio to help on this job specifically, full-time, for a matter of days. And we also need a secure space to work in, and all kinds of scriving materials. If you can get me that, there’s a hell of a lot more money where that came from.”

“That is a big ask.” Claudia turned the leather satchel over in her hands. “So that’s the job bit?”

“That’s the job bit.”

“What’s the favor bit?”

“The favor bit,” said Sancia, looking her hard in the eye, “is you forget everything you ever heard about Clef. Ever. Now. This instant. You’ve never heard of him. I’m just some thief who comes to you to get tools and credentials to get into the campos, and nothing else. You do that, and you get your money.”

“Why?” asked Claudia.

“Never mind why,” said Sancia. “Just erase all of that from your brain, get Gio to do the same, and you’ll both be rich.”

“I’m not so sure I like this, San…”

“I’m going to make a signal now,” said Sancia, “and they’re going to walk up. When they do, don’t start screaming.”

“Start screaming? Why would I…” She stopped as Sancia raised a hand, and Berenice, Gregor, and Orso emerged from the shadows and joined her at the door.

She stared in horror, mostly at Orso, who was cursing after having stepped in a puddle. “Holy…holy shit …” she whispered.

Orso looked up at Claudia and the warehouse. He wrinkled his nose. “Dear God,” he said. “They work here ?”

“You had better let us in,” said Sancia.

Orso paced around the Scrappers’ workshop like a farmer buying chickens at a seedy market. He examined their scriving blocks, their sigil strings on the walls, their bubbling cauldrons full of lead or bronze, their air fans strapped to carriage wheels. Claudia had ushered all the other Scrappers out before letting them in, but now she and Giovanni sat there, watching Orso dart around their quarters with terrified looks, like a panther had broken into their home as they slept.

He walked over and looked at the sigils scrawled on a blackboard. “You’re…making a way to control carriages remotely,” he said slowly. It wasn’t a question.

“Uh,” said Giovanni. “Yes?”

Orso nodded. “But it’s not expressing right. Is it, Berenice?”

Berenice stood and joined him. “The orientation’s wrong.”

“Yes,” said Orso.

“Their calibration tools are far too complicated,” she said.

“Yes.”

“The rig probably gets confused, isn’t sure which way it’s facing. So it likely just shuts down after a couple dozen feet or so.”

“Yes.” Orso looked at Giovanni. “Doesn’t it?”

Gio looked at Claudia, who shrugged. “Um. Yes. So far. More or less.”

Orso nodded again. “But just because it doesn’t work…that doesn’t mean it’s bad .”

Claudia and Gio blinked and looked at each other. They slowly realized that Orso Ignacio, legendary hypatus of Dandolo Chartered, had just given them a compliment.

“It’s…something I’ve worked on for a long time,” said Gio.

“Yes,” said Orso. He looked around the room, taking it all in. “Worked on with crude tools, secondhand knowledge, fragments of designs…You’ve improvised fixes to problems no campo scriver’s ever had to deal with. You’ve had to reinvent fire every day.” He looked at Sancia. “You were right.”

“Told you so,” said Sancia.

“Right about what?” said Claudia.

“She said you were good,” said Orso. “And you might be good enough for this. Maybe. What did she tell you about the job?”

Claudia glanced at Sancia, and Sancia thought she could detect a hint of wrath there, which she couldn’t blame her for. “She said you needed us,” said Claudia. “And a workshop of your own. And materials.”

“Good,” said Orso. “Let’s try to keep things that simple.”

“They can’t possibly stay that simple,” said Claudia. “You’re disrupting everything we do here. We’ve got to know more to get on board with this!”

“Fine,” said Orso. “We’re going to break into the Mountain.”

They stared at him, incredulous.

“The Mountain ?” Giovanni looked at Sancia. “San, are you mad ?”

“Yes,” said Orso. “That’s why we’re here.”

“But…but why?” said Claudia.

“Doesn’t matter,” said Orso. “Just know that someone wants us dead — including, yes, me. The only way for us to stop them is to get into the Mountain. Help us, and you get paid.”

“And what’s the payment?” said Claudia.

“Well, that depends,” said Orso. “Originally I was going to pay you some huge sum of money…but having seen what you’re doing here, some alternate options seem available. You’re working with spotty, secondhand knowledge. So…perhaps some of the third- and fourth-tier sigil strings from Dandolo Chartered and Company Candiano would be more valuable to you.”

Sancia didn’t understand what that meant, but both Claudia’s and Giovanni’s eyes shot wide. They froze, and both seemed to do some rapid calculations.

“We’d want fifth tier too,” said Claudia.

“Absolutely not,” said Orso.

“Half the Dandolo fourth-tier fundamentals are intended to function with fifth-tier strings,” said Giovanni. “They’d be useless without them.”

Orso burst out laughing. “Those combinations are all for massive designs! What are you trying to do, build a bridge across the Durazzo, or a ladder to the moon?”