Heart of Steel - Meljean Brook [64]
Almost faster than he could track, she went over the side. Not bothering with the rungs, she slid quickly down the ropes. Near the bottom, she flipped her legs out, spun through the air like an acrobat, and landed silently in a crouch. God, what an incredible woman. His own descent was embarrassingly slow by comparison.
He reached the ground. Snow crunched softly under his feet. The light was fading quickly, the edges of the clearing lost in shadows.
“Do you see anything?”
“No.” Her voice was as quiet as his. “Let’s go.”
She ran toward the machine. God, she was quick and light on her feet. She rounded the machine and paused. The oval door-sized hatch on this side was also open.
Unease slipped through him. Leaving the hatch open on top made sense—zombies didn’t climb. But they could walk right through the main hatch. “Would he do this?”
“No.” She studied the dark interior. “But I would wager anything that he’s set it to blow.”
“When’s the last time it snowed?” He judged the snow around them. “Two, three days ago? But there’s barely any on the machine, and no tracks. The wind might have cleaned it off, but either way, it hasn’t been sitting long.”
“He’s probably hiding around here somewhere and this is his warning system.” She met his eyes. “What do you think?”
“I trust my gut. If we go in there, we’re dead.”
Yasmeen agreed. They ran back to the ladder, climbed up.
Hassan met them at the top. “You didn’t go inside?”
“She’s rigged to blow,” Archimedes said.
One of the marines stepped forward. The leader of the group, Archimedes guessed. His boots polished to a high shine, each buckle of his jacket in a straight line, his brown beard precisely trimmed, he looked the sort that lived by details and never let imperfections pass by without correcting them—or destroying them.
“What sort of explosive? We’re trained to defuse several types of devices.”
“Including Jasper Evans’s devices?” He looked to Hassan. “You know me well. If there’s a chance to survive, there’s nothing I won’t try. I don’t believe there’s much of a chance here.”
After a brief moment, Hassan nodded. “All right, then. We will let it be.”
“But you didn’t see the device, Mr. Fox?” This from Captain Guillouet. “You only think that it’s there.”
“I didn’t see it,” Yasmeen said. “But I know Evans well enough to say he’d rather destroy the machine than let someone else have it.”
Archimedes gritted his teeth when the captain didn’t acknowledge her answer with so much as a glance. Christ. She had more experience and knowledge than half the men on that deck put together.
Guillouet continued, “Mr. Hassan, if you’ve passed on this opportunity to collect the reward, I hope you’ll forgive the small delay as I allow my crew to try?”
“Yes, but I counsel against it.”
“And pass up a possible fifty livre reward?” Guillouet smiled. “If I split it equally between my men, that’s two each. That’s more than they make in a year. I believe they’ll take that risk.”
Several of the aviators nodded, eyes widening at the mention of such a sum. Yasmeen’s mouth tightened.
Guillouet turned to the marine. “Mr. Bigor, please lead your men down. Be quick, before you lose the light.”
“Yes, sir.” Bigor jerked his head at his men, and they moved in step to the rope ladder.
Anger was one of the few emotions that Archimedes never deliberately stoked, and he was slow to rise to a temper. But it could happen, now and again.
“Mr. Bigor, a moment!” he called out. When the man paused at the side of the ship, Archimedes joined him and said, “Have you encountered many zombies before?”
The man gave a stiff nod, eyes hard. “A few.”
Only a few? Archimedes wasn’t surprised. The four men were skilled, no doubt, though he’d have wagered they hadn’t been long on this side of the Atlantic.
A moan sounded from below, barely audible above the creak of the ship and the flap of canvas. But of course there was—Archimedes had just yelled the man’s name, hadn’t he? And no one had called him an idiot.
From the corner of his eye, he saw Yasmeen lean