Steven Harper - The Doomsday Vault

“Paper communiques can be intercepted. Your sharp mind and Mr. Ennock’s perfect pitch gave me the means to send the perfect coded message. It was the only way to be safe.”

“Safe?” Alice echoed. “Attacking the bank with an army of zombies was safe ? Blowing up a dirigible and killing dozens of men was safe ?”

“Safer than sending a letter or telegram.” Edwina finished her cake.

“You sent me a telegram,” Gavin pointed out.

“That was from Louisa, not me. And I signed it ‘L.’ Could have been anyone.”

Gavin groaned.

“Getting back to the cure,” Alice said. “What do Gavin and I have to do with it?”

“The cure. Yes.” Edwina leaned forward. A red light, one among many, flashed on the wall not far from Edwina’s chair. It went out, and another one flashed. “We don’t have much time. The first cure I discovered was only partially effective. I had. . manufactured another microorganism that attacks the clockwork plague bacterium. It’s smaller than bacteria and structured quite differently. I suspect similar agents already exist in nature. I call it a ‘virion.’ Do you like the term? I think it might catch on.”

“I thought we didn’t have much time,” Gavin said.

“Right, right. My first virion, the one the Ward stole, is very delicate and can only survive inside a living host. It must be injected directly into the bloodstream. Very disappointing, if one wants the cure to spread throughout the world. I put it in my safe, and then the Ward chased me away and stole it. I had to start again down here.”

“Did you do it?” Alice leaned across the table. “Did you succeed this time?”

“Of course.” Edwina dabbed at her cheek with a napkin. The lights were all flashing red now. “The second virion is much hardier. Once a person is infected with this second virion, he becomes a carrier, and his saliva and mucus will spread it to other people, who become carriers in their own right. Once released, it will spread throughout the world and destroy the plague entirely. The only problem”-and here she sighed-“is that it doesn’t cure plague geniuses. Their bodies change the plague somehow and make it immune to the cure. I tried an early version on poor Mr. Barton and a few others I’ve come across, and it didn’t help any of them.”

“But even so!” Alice breathed. “Edwina! We have to release it right now!”

Edwina held up a hand. “It’s not that simple, darling. I can’t finish incubating the second virion down here, with these limited facilities. It’s going to take some-”

“Wait,” Gavin interrupted. “You’re lying.”

“Oh?” Edwina’s tone was light, but with an edge.

“You said the Third Ward stole your first cure months ago,” Gavin said. “So why haven’t they-we-used it?”

“Ah.” Edwina steepled her fingers and stole a glance at the lights. They all went out. “I’m afraid I won’t be able to explain that quite yet. You need to play ma que with the Queen.”

“I-what?” Gavin said.

“Play ma que with the Queen. Play ma que with the Queen.”

“What are you talking about?” Gavin demanded. “What’s-?”

The main door burst open, and a dozen agents flooded the room.

In an instant, Edwina was surrounded by pistols, rifles, and other weapons Gavin hadn’t yet learned to identify. Gavin himself stared down the barrel of a very strange gun with copper wiring that twisted all along it. He smelled ozone, and his heart beat at the back of his throat. Then he saw who was wielding it.

“Damn it, Simon,” he snapped, “it’s me.”

“Play ma que with the Queen,” Edwina said.

Simon d’Arco didn’t move, and for a moment Gavin wondered if the man intended to shoot him. His thoughts flashed back to the moment at the symphony a few hours ago. Gavin hadn’t had any time to think about what had happened or what any of it had meant, but now he wondered if Simon was angry. Then Simon lowered the weapon.

“Jesus, Gavin,” he said. “I nearly blasted you to Sussex. Are you drinking tea ?”

“I would prefer,” Alice said in a small voice, “if you didn’t point that at me.”

“Alice?” Glenda holstered her weapon. “Good God, you look a fright. Are you all right? When did you start wearing trousers?”

There was a clatter of shackles as a set was closed over Edwina’s wrists. She did not protest or struggle. A look of sadness came over Alice’s face. Gavin wanted to hold her tight and let her head rest on his shoulder, let her cry if she needed to. He also knew she would be angry if he touched her in front of all these people. In the end, both of them just stood and watched Edwina be led toward the door in her long brown coat. One of the agents put the battered top hat on her head.

“Play ma que with the Queen, darlings,” Edwina called as she was towed out the door. “Ma que!”

“Poor bugger,” one of the remaining agents muttered. “Gone completely round the bend already.”

Lieutenant Phipps stood to one side. Her arms were folded, flesh on brass. Gavin hadn’t heard her arrive, and he wondered how much trouble he was in. “It’s three o’clock, ladies and gentlemen,” she said. “Smith, Peters-get the clockworker back to headquarters before morning traffic. The rest of you, dismantle this place immediately.”

A “yes, ma’am” chorus echoed around the room. Phipps dropped into Edwina’s chair. Alice and Gavin were on their feet.

“How did you know to come here, Lieutenant?” Gavin asked.

Phipps nodded at Alice. “Her automaton told us.”

“Kemp?” Gavin blinked. “He wasn’t supposed to-”

“I told him to tell them if we didn’t return within two hours,” Alice said quietly. “I’m sorry, Gavin. I didn’t think it was a good idea to go off alone.”

His mouth hung open. “You lied about the hot bath and the tea.”

“Yes.” She looked unhappy. “But it was a good thing, in the end.”

“We’ll talk about it later,” Gavin said.

“Once again,” Phipps put in, “I’m torn between praising you and shooting you. This is the clockworker who’s been terrorizing London with the zombies and who tried to steal the war mechanical, correct?”

“Yeah,” Gavin said. “She was also Alice’s aunt Edwina in disguise, so we got two for one.”

Phipps bolted to her feet. “ That was Edwina?”

“It was,” Alice replied.

“You’re both in for a bonus and a holiday,” Phipps said. “See me back at headquarters for your report.” And she was gone.

“That was strange,” Gavin said. “She never gives bonuses, let alone holidays.”

“It’s not strange at all. The Queen’s letter said her job was in danger if Edwina wasn’t captured, remember? And Edwina can make the cure for the clockwork plague.”

“Which the Ward already has, if we can believe her,” Gavin said. “Alice, I hate to say it, but I think your aunt is entering the final stage. She said she has bad spells, and she was losing her mind there toward the end. All that business about ma que with the Queen. All that stuff about a cure may have been rambling.”

Alice shook her head. “I don’t think so. It was all too careful, too reasoned.”

Meanwhile, agents were rushing about the laboratory. They had already brought down crates and boxes and were packing up Edwina’s materials with swift movements that bespoke long practice. Simon was dismantling some equipment while Glenda took notes on how it went together. Glass clinked and metal clanged. Within three or four hours, all traces of the laboratory would be gone. Alice was swaying on her feet, her face drawn with exhaustion, and Gavin remembered how long they’d been awake. Their encounter at the symphony had happened this evening, but it felt like days ago. When had he last slept? He couldn’t remember, though he didn’t feel particularly tired-not with everything that had happened.