Фил Фоглио - Agatha H. and the Siege of Mechanicsburg

Zeetha looked stricken. “Agatha,” she whispered.

Airman Higgs carefully put his pipe in his pocket. “Master Gilgamesh is down there too. Guess we’d better go see if they’re all right.”

Moloch raised an eyebrow. “You ain’t going this way.”

Higgs nodded. “Lady Heterodyne carved this hole. There are other paths.”

“Well . . . sure. But where are they?”

Higgs paused, and realized that everyone was looking at him. “I . . . think I can get there.” Moloch looked skeptical. Higgs hesitated, then continued. “I . . . found a map.”

“A map!” Professor Diaz perked up. “That could be useful indeed! Where is it?”

The airman shrugged. “It’s down in the lab.”

Diaz frowned. “That does not do us much good, then.”

Higgs tapped the side of his head. “I remember maps.” The professor opened his mouth, but Higgs continued. “Who’s coming with me?”

Zeetha stepped up. “I am.”

A tiny smile scurried across Higgs face. “Good.” Zeetha felt inordinately pleased at this reaction. She tried to hide it by looking to Krosp. “How about you?”

“Of course,” the cat responded. “Agatha’ll be lost without me.”

Higgs turned towards Moloch. “How about you?”

Moloch looked alarmed. “Why me?”

“You’re useful.” Higgs slid a glance towards the huge security clank and the little clank army that swarmed it, working furiously. “Don’t think you’re needed here. Of course, the madboys could probably think of something to do to you . . . ”

Moloch clapped his hands. “Let’s go.”

Theo DuMudd and Sleipnir O’Hara, friends of Gil who had helped him gain entrance to the Castle, were standing to the side, watching. Sleipnir leaned in towards Theo. “A map?” Her voice was the barest whisper, practiced during countless pranks and adventures back on Castle Wulfenbach. “Of this place? That doesn’t even—”

Theo answered with a matching whisper. “I know. But he says he can get us back to Gil and Agatha.” He narrowed his eyes as he studied the airman. “If he’s got to claim there’s a map in order to do it? Fine. He found a map.” He raised his voice to call: “We’ll come too.”

Zeetha nodded. “Yeah, you can handle the spark stuff.” She turned to Professor Mezzasalma. “Can the rest of you get this thing running?”

The professor gave an offended snort. “Of course!” He then paused. “If those wind-up mice will let us.”

Zeetha nodded, then strode up and confronted the queen clank. “Hey! Agatha needs this cat monster thing up and running as soon as possible! Help these guys make that happen, got it?” The diminutive ruler reared up, clearly offended. It then considered the warrior princess who stood before it and gave a clear nod of acquiescence.

Zeetha turned, caught sight of Mezzasalma’s smirk of triumph and buttonholed him before he could move. “And I’ll be checking to make sure that’s all you had them do, so no bright ideas. No extras, no deviation from what’s already here. I know how sparks think.”

The professor looked into her pitiless eyes and swallowed. “That’s . . . quite a reasonable demand, considering the circumstances.” He swiveled his eyes back. “Don’t you agree, my dear fellows?” Both Diaz and Mittelmind looked like they were sucking on persimmons, but they gave stiff nods nonetheless.

Fortunately, Doctor Mittelmind’s natural ebullience could not be contained for long, and with a sigh, he shrugged and declared, “To work everyone!” He leaned towards Frдulein Snaug. “Prepare a list!”

Hexalina shuffled her feet. “Um, actually, Herr Doktor, I’d like to go help find the Lady Heterodyne.” Her master turned towards her, astonishment writ large upon his face. She continued, “Please, sir?”

Mittelmind glanced over at the security clank and its busy repair team. It was a fascinating sight. “But why?”

Moloch stepped up to her and touched her shoulder. “Hey, are you coming? I’d feel better having someone at my back who wasn’t completely nuts.”

Snaug glanced at Mittelmind. “Maybe. In a minute.”

The mechanic nodded, grabbed a toolbox, and legged it back to the group assembling around Airman Higgs. Snaug watched him go, a look of longing on her face. The doctor observed this and a knowing smile softened his features. Frдulein Snaug looked back up at him hopefully. “Ah. Yes, of course.” Mittelmind awkwardly patted her head. “Off you go, girl.” He then snapped out a hand and prevented her from darting off. Once he had her attention, he raised an admonishing finger. “But no permanent damage. He belongs to the Lady, now.” A quick pout crossed Hexalina’s face and her hands clenched in frustration—but Mittelmind was adamant. She gave a small huff and nodded. “Yes, Doctor.” Mittelmind smiled and released her. Snaug caught sight of Moloch and repressed a small thrill of anticipation. Permanent was such a delightfully high bar.

Violetta closed the fastening with a satisfying snap. “There!”

Everyone gave a sigh of relief. Once Lucrezia had retreated, Agatha had scooped up her locket, holding it close to her with one hand as, with her other hand, she rushed to release the others from their glass prisons. Zola had damaged the necklace when she yanked it away, so Violetta repaired the clasp while Agatha held it in place.

N

ow, the locket was, once again, firmly held at Agatha’s throat. “Thank you, Violetta.” Agatha gave it an experimental tug and frowned. “Maybe I’d better just weld the thing onto an iron ring.”

Violetta rolled her eyes. “Don’t be overly dramatic. A good solid lock will work fine.” She cast a scornful eye towards Gil and Tarvek, who were busy seeing to Von Pinn. “Whose adolescent slave-girl fantasies are we indulging here?”

Agatha quickly changed the subject as they joined Gil and Tarvek beside one of the lab’s operating tables. “How is Madame Von Pinn doing?”

“I’m amazed she’s still alive, actually,” Tarvek confessed.

Gil shrugged. “Constructs of this type are notoriously tough, and we’ve managed to stabilize her for now.”

Tarvek shook his head, “But her body is definitely on its way out.” He began ticking items off on his fingers. “We need to extract the Castle entity from the body of the Muse, Otilia. Then we need to transfer Otilia’s mind out of the body we know as Von Pinn and into a suitable clank body until the Muse can be repaired. Then we have to transfer the Castle entity back into the Castle system.”

Gil nodded. “It’s like a sliding puzzle in that we can’t do anything until we do the first step, and we can’t do that until the others get back with that watchdog clank.”

“No.” They turned at the firmness in Agatha’s voice. “We can’t wait. We have to leave as soon as we can.” Agatha strode over to a bench and grabbed a brass tube and began stringing wires through it. “Zola now has access to all of my mother’s—Lucrezia’s—memories, right?”

Tarvek waggled his hand. “Yes, for the most part . . . ”

Agatha turned to Gil. “And your father is probably still planning on destroying the Castle.”

Gil nodded. “I’m sort of counting on him not doing so while I’m inside . . . but, yes.”

Agatha selected a coil of copper tubing, snipped off a length, and began bending it into a fanciful hook. “That’s two very powerful enemies, one inside the Castle and the other outside.” She laced wiring about the base of the coil and began attaching it to the tube. “Nobody here—” the wave of her hand indicated the room, the Castle, and probably Mechanicsburg as a whole “—is safe until I get the Castle running again.” She glanced down at the construct on the slab. “That includes Madame Von Pinn here.”