Steven Harper - The Havoc Machine

“Bless my soul,” Dante said.

“What-?” Thad asked.

“Look!” Sofiya pointed at the bridge. The place where she had shot it gaped in a breach too wide for any man or horse to leap. Charred beams and blacked edges hung over the water, and a few flames licked feebly at the wood. The bridge itself was empty. On the mainland side, a regiment of soldiers was standing guard with rifles at the ready. The island side…

The island side had changed. Metal gleamed in the light of the setting sun-iron and brass and copper and even gold. Cables and wires wound between the buildings, creating a great metal web that covered every building. Havoc spiders scuttled along them. Some of them trailed more cables. In the streets below lumbered larger spiders, from dog size to horse size. Carts moved by themselves, carrying machine parts. And there were human-shaped automatons as well. They walked or lurched or trotted or trundled over cobblestones and dirt. They were different shapes and sizes, a version of a human population taken to an extreme. Some had fingers, some had mittens, some had eyes in the backs of their heads, some had large wheels from the knees down. Some were tall, some were short, some were thin, some were stout. Some had hair, some did not. Many wore clothing, though it fit poorly.

All the automatons were working. They modified buildings and dug trenches and laid cable and fixed other automatons. They worked ceaselessly, tirelessly, and at amazing speed. The sound of thousands of clacking metal parts reached across the river.

Dante bobbed up and down on Thad’s shoulder, fascinated by the sight. “Pretty boy! Pretty, pretty boy!”

Thad stared. At first he thought the entire island had changed, but now that he looked more carefully, he could see that so far it was only the rim, the parts nearest the river. The interior was so far untouched, though even now spiders were pulling cables farther inland. It wouldn’t take long.

The mainland side of the River Neva was also in chaos. Boats lined the near bank, and none were in sight on the far side. Refugees stood or sat near the water, most of them dripping wet, with looks of shock and fear on their faces. Every so often, another person emerged from the clockwork city and leaped into the river. When that happened, a boat from the mainland side rowed out to pull the person to safety. Thad wondered how many had drowned, or if the automatons had killed anyone. The automatons themselves stayed well away from the water.

“How did they build so much so fast?” Sofiya wondered aloud. “Just finding the materials and metal-”

“The shipping docks,” Thad said. “And the foundry. Built by Cousin Peter. All the materials and metal they need. Once they have the island, they’ll jump the river to the main city. The city has railroads to other cities. After that, we’re undone.”

“They don’t seem to have killed anyone so far,” Sofiya said. “Only driven them away.”

“Even if they never kill anyone-and I doubt that’ll last-Mr. Griffin said he wanted to push all humans out,” Thad said. “It’ll be war between humans and automatons eventually, mark it.”

“He’s a human,” Sofiya said. “Doesn’t he think-?”

“It’s clockworker logic,” Thad told her. “If glass shatters too easily, don’t switch to metal; find a way to stop glass from breaking. If a tree is blocking your view, build a machine to turn the house around. If some humans persecute you, destroy all humans.”

More citizens of Saint Petersburg were crowding the streets as word spread of what was happening. They gawked and pointed and asked questions among themselves. Thad wanted to know what would happen to the refugees from the island-and how many people were still trapped across the river, along with Nikolai. He was in there, somewhere.

“We have to get across,” Thad said. “Right now. We’ll commandeer one of those boats. A big one will hold Kalvis. Then-”

“Over there!” Sofiya pointed upstream.

A great grinding and clattering came from upstream at the smaller island on which rested the Peter and Paul Fortress. One of the four flags fluttered bloodred, indicating the presence of Tsar Alexander. The weaponry and cannons that lined the walls atop the fortress were clanking around to focus on Vasilyevsky Island. Thad remembered the firepower he had seen in the fortress and he felt the blood drain from his face.

“The fortress! We have to stop them!”

“What about-?”

Thad thought fast, incredibly fast. “Take Kalvis. Go to the fortress and stop the tsar. You saved his life just this morning, and he might listen to you. I’ll go the island and find Nikolai.”

“But if they bombard the island, you’ll both be caught in it.”

“Then you must be incredibly persuasive.” He slid to the ground. “Go!”

“Wait!” Sofiya leaped down as well and slapped Kalvis’s rear. His backside opened, just like it did in the ring, and the colt slid out. Sofiya unfolded its slender legs and neck. “He’s freshly wound and ready. He won’t last long, but he might help.”

“Applesauce!” squawked Dante.

“He?”

“Just take him. And Maddie, too. She has been down there before and knows the way to Nikolai.” Maddie squeaked and jumped down to the colt’s back. Then Sofiya kissed Thad on the mouth. “Take that to our son. From his mama. And bring him back.”

Sofiya mounted Kalvis again and galloped away, leaving Thad to stare after her.

* * *

Down at the River Neva, Thad and his automatons joined the crowd at the bank. A few talked and gesticulated, but most remained hushed and frightened. Everyone was staring across the water.

“It is a nation of clockworkers…”

“…killed Parkarov and tried to assassinate the tsar…”

“…will kill us all, mark my…”

“…tsar will destroy…”

“…must rise up and throw off the yoke of the tsar…”

The latter comment got Thad’s attention for a moment. A few people were shaking halfhearted signs of the “overthrow the tsar” sort in the crowd, but at this point, no one was seemed interested in revolution. Instead, people were counting on the tsar and his army to solve the problem. Thad wondered how long it would take Zygmund Padlewski and his friends to figure out that Mr. Griffin had been using them as a distraction and as free labor for his own ends.

From this vantage point, he could see the triangular set of buildings that made up the Academy. The buildings were now draped in cables. Spiders ran up and down them, and strange objects festooned the walls and roof. Grinding gears and puffing pistons and winding pulleys worked toward some goal Thad couldn’t fathom. Buried somewhere beneath that building was Nikolai, his little shadow. He wanted to tear the building apart, brick by brick.

It’s just because he reminds you of David, he told himself. He’s exactly the same as all those other machines on the street-following orders from his memory wheels. The real reason you’re upset is that Griffin manipulated you and got away with it. Stop the machines, and then stop him.

The trouble lay with the automatons. Hundreds of them worked in the streets or on the buildings, some with human grace, others with machine jerkiness. No man would be able to walk through without being noticed.

Thad turned and ran all the way back to the circus with the colt right behind him. He found the place in equal disarray, with people bustling about and hurrying in a dozen directions, but it was a disarray he recognized. The circus was pulling up stakes. He came across Nathan in his Aran sweater, shouting orders at the roustabouts, who were just starting work on the Tilt. Behind the wagons, steam puffed from the locomotive.