Heart of Steel - Meljean Brook [75]
“My pleasure. The worst way to begin an expedition is by dying in an exploding tree harvester.”
“I believe you are correct, Mr. Fox.” Bigor’s flat gaze moved to Yasmeen, then back to Archimedes. “Shall we precede you?”
“No.”
Archimedes stepped to the side, and though she didn’t need the support, took Yasmeen’s hand in his, helping her over the gunwale and onto the ladder. Her eyes met his briefly. He let go.
She slid down. Quiet, so quiet. On the ground, she remained crouched and listening, looking into the trees as they followed her down. Archimedes led them across the snow to the keep. Behind him, three of the marines spread out, keeping watch in all directions. Yasmeen at his side, Archimedes moved around the tower. Halfway around, they located the arched doorway—the entrance sealed up with stone blocks.
Moving almost as quietly as Yasmeen had, Bigor joined them. His voice was low. “Protecting something inside?”
Probably. He’d seen the same in other cities, other villages. Many strongholds became depositories for treasures that the fleeing citizens couldn’t carry with them—and everyone assumed they would eventually return. Archimedes’ first find had been something similar, a journey begun after months of sifting through fragments of letters and cryptic references.
He retrieved his iron prybar, fitted the end between the blocks. The stones didn’t shift. Christ.
“Anything we use will make noise,” Yasmeen whispered.
Archimedes nodded, studying her face. She already had a solution, he knew, but she wouldn’t like depending on Guillouet to carry it out. “A distraction?”
Her teeth clenched. She tilted her head back and looked up the side of the tower, then at the surrounding terrain. Weighing her options, he thought. Finally, she nodded and turned to Bigor.
“We need Guillouet to fly Ceres to that stand of trees, so he has a clear shot at this door. His boilers need to be at full steam before he starts her engines up, and run half power into the electrical generator. He’ll use the rail cannon to take out these blocks.” She took a deep breath. “The zombies will come. So as soon as he fires on the keep, he needs to kick in the propellers and take Ceres at least two or three hundred yards off. Once there, that crew needs to shoot their rifles, drawing the zombies to that location while we head inside the tower—and once we’re in, even two of your men guarding the entrance can handle any strays. When we signal, Ceres can pick us up.”
Bigor nodded. “All right. What signal?”
She glanced up. “We’ll be on the roof. Even if the zombies follow Ceres back, we’re out of reach.”
“They won’t climb up?”
“They don’t climb,” Archimedes said. “They’ll go up an incline or stairs, so they might follow you up onto a pile of ruins, but they don’t have the brains for vertical.”
“All right.” With another sharp nod, Bigor ran for the rope ladder.
Archimedes followed Yasmeen away from the keep. The rail gun’s accuracy meant they didn’t have to go far, and they waited, back to back, watching the trees. A soft moan came from the west; Durand took the zombie down with a crossbow bolt shot through its eye.
Bigor returned to the ground. Above, steam boiled from Ceres’ tail as she sailed into position in line with the tower’s entrance. So far, Guillouet was following Yasmeen’s instructions.
She turned her head to whisper, “Shall we make a wager? What do you think might be inside? Gold, jewels? If I’m very lucky, cigarillos?”
He grinned but shook his head. It was impossible to know, and depended upon the manner the zombie infection spread, and whether the population had time to gather more than a few items before they fled. Some cities had time to contain the infection and to prepare—and until the very end, Vienna had been one of them. Blocking the entrance to this tower could have been to protect something inside, or simply to keep the zombies out until they returned.
“Don’t bet