Steven Harper - The Havoc Machine

“Stop! You can’t-”

Sofiya yanked the box from the wall and smashed it on the ground. The sound ended, taking with it the pain. Relief sweet as spring rain rushed over her. But the spiders were already moving. They came at her in a pack. Sofiya dropped the rucksack and sprinted for the same tunnel Zygmund and the others had used. The spiders came fast. At the last moment, she pulled the grenade pin and threw it over her shoulder. She caught a glimpse of Mr. Griffin’s brain in the jar just before the explosion knocked her through the air.

When the noise and heat ended and the dust settled a bit, Sofiya got unsteadily to her feet and edged back to the chamber, ears ringing. Some of the stones had come down from the ceiling, but it hadn’t collapsed entirely. Most of the equipment and the crates were smashed to flinders, and the clockworker bodies hidden inside some of them lay in gory piles. Sofiya mused with a strange detachment that Mr. Griffin had intended her to be one of them, eventually. The jar had been obliterated. Nothing left but a pink smear on the blackened floor. Sofiya scrubbed at it with one toe. She had won. Olenka was safe forever. But Thad and Nikolai were still in danger, and they were her main worry now.

As she was turning to go, her eye alighted on the deactivated Nikolai in its corner. The blast hadn’t hurt it at all. It just vaguely resembled the real Nikolai, and then only when the light was right, but she suddenly couldn’t bear the thought of leaving it-him-down here in the dark, abandoned and alone. She tucked the little automaton under one arm and trotted away. Perhaps she could bury him, give him a bit of dignity. More than Mr. Griffin deserved.

* * *

Thad and Nikolai arrived on the Academy roof with Dante. The colt and Maddie had stayed below. Twenty or thirty automatons milled aimlessly about. They examined their hands, their clothes, the smokestacks, and one another as if truly seeing them for the first time.

“Two minutes,” said Dante. “Two.”

On the roof was also the enormous weapon Thad had seen earlier. It looked like a cannon made of glass and brass and steel on a swivel base the size of a beer lorry. A great copper coil wound round the barrel, which was easily twenty feet long and four feet in diameter. Cables ran from it to the smaller machines scattered across the roof. Thad guessed they provided power. There was a chair with a control panel directly behind the barrel, and it thrummed loud enough to make the roof tiles throb. The entire cannon was aimed across the river directly at the Peter and Paul Fortress.

Wishing with all his might Sofiya were here, Thad clambered into the chair and said, “Nikolai, see if you can get your…brothers to help us.”

Nikolai turned to the other automatons. “Brothers! We need you. I know it feels strange now. I know what it feels like to start thinking for the first time. But please-can you help?”

Most of them ignored Nikolai, but four of them came forward. All four were full-sized automatons. Two moved like Nikolai, and two lurched clumsily. “I will help,” one said slowly. “And I,” added the second.

“One minute,” Dante said. “One.”

Thad peered through a telescopic eyepiece. A gun sight drawn on the lens showed that the cannon was aimed at the top of the fortress wall. The lens also showed dozens of soldiers atop the fortress, along with a great many enormous weapons, all of which were pointed in their direction. The soldiers were waiting, ready to fire at a moment’s notice. Thad swallowed. If this didn’t work, they were all dead.

“One of you run downstairs and tell everyone to leave the building. Run for the woods on the north side of the island,” Thad instructed, and one of the automatons went. “You others know this weapon, and I don’t,” he continued. “Bring the aim downward until I say stop.”

An automaton said, “But we were to aim it at-”

“Please!” Thad said. “I’m trying to save everyone.”

“Do as he says, brothers,” Nikolai put in. “He stopped the voice and let you think.”

The automatons paused a moment, then went to the platform and spun cranks in complicated patterns. The sight moved downward until it was pointing at the base of the fortress. The soldiers at the top were looking back over their shoulders. Were they receiving orders?

“Time!” said Dante. “Time! Doom!”

“Stop!” Thad ordered, and he pulled what he hoped was the trigger.

The thrumming grew louder, then built into a whine. The copper coil glowed in a spiral around the barrel, and power crackled within. The cannon glowed like the interior of a sun, and then a blast of energy burst forth. It smashed into the base of the fortress wall. Thad peered into the sight. A hole the size of a large cottage had been blown into the wall and a sizable chunk of the ground beneath had been vaporized as well. The rest of the wall was already cracking and crumbling, and water from the river rushed into the fortress. Soldiers and clockworkers fled the top of the wall, leaving the massive weapons behind. Thad even heard the faint shouts and cries.

“To the right!” Thad shouted. “Move to the right!”

More cranking. The great weapon glowed and fired again. More of the base wall went down, giving the soldiers enough time to flee before it crumbled, but not letting them fire the weapons. Now two sides of the fortress were gone with, as far as Thad could tell, no casualties.

“We’re doing it!” he shouted. “We’re doing it! We’re-”

A deep rushing noise was the only warning they had. Something slammed into the rooftop with explosive force. Thad was thrown from the cannon. He hit his head, and the world swayed dizzily. He tried to regain his feet, failed, and tried again. Smoke filled the air.

“Nikolai!” he cried. “Niko!”

Another rush, followed by an explosion. This one hit farther away, but it still knocked Thad down. He couldn’t see, couldn’t hear. He coughed and got to his feet again, calling Nikolai’s name. The smoke was so thick, he couldn’t see more than a foot before him. He had to get off the roof, get out of the building, but he wouldn’t leave without Nikolai.

The smoke cleared a moment, and he saw Nikolai lying on the roof tiles. Dante was crouched on his chest. Other automatons lay scattered about like manikins. Thad stumbled over and gathered Nikolai up.

“Nikolai! Are you all right?”

Nikolai didn’t respond. Dante hauled himself up to Thad’s shoulder. Thad didn’t wait to see what was wrong. He ran for the stairs. Whistling and more rushing sounds filled the air, and explosions thudded elsewhere on the island.

The stairs were destroyed. A great hole gaped in the roof where they had been. Thad dashed to the side of the building. Many of the cables and wires draped over the building had been blown loose and they hung down like vines. Before he could lose his nerve, Thad tightened his hold on Nikolai with his right arm and grabbed a cable with his brass left. Praising Sofiya for the increased strength in his new hand, he clambered over the edge and slid down as fast as he dared. His hand heated up and air rushed past him and his shoulders burned, but he didn’t let go. Yet another explosion hit the roof above dead center, sending vibrations down the cable like piano wire. Thad lost his grip and dropped.

He fell two feet to the sidewalk.

“Bless my soul,” said Dante.

Thad ignored him. His entire being was focused on getting Nikolai to safety. Nothing else mattered. Chaos reigned in the streets again. Automatons ran in all directions, just as frightened as humans. Arms and legs and heads, some still moving, littered the cobbles. The little body was limp in Thad’s arms as he ran around the side of the building and blundered into the colt with Maddie on his back.