foot-high double doors stood opposite her. A patch of floor in front of the doors gleamed like a diamond. Alice glanced around, halted in confusion. It was the wrong room. She had taken a bad turn somewhere.
“This is the entry foyer,” Kemp said helpfully. “The front doors are straight ahead of Madam.”
Alice hesitated and fingered the whistle on its chain around her neck. “I think we should find a side door. I don’t want to walk out onto the front steps and into the middle of that party.”
“Ivana Gonta sent everyone home some time after Madam and Sir took the lift down,” Kemp sniffed. “According to the servants, she was quite rude about it, even by Cossack standards. It is why everyone is in such a panic. The circus left, except for the elephant, which won’t obey orders from anyone. Perhaps it has broken down.”
“So the entire banquet existed only to lure us here,” Alice said.
“Who cares?” Gavin said. “We have a clear sky. Let’s go!”
A door up on the balcony slammed open and a stream of mechanical guards, all dressed in red uniforms, stormed down the stairs. Faster than any human, they lined up in ranks in front of the main doors. The other doors in the great room crashed shut and locks clicked. The children clustered around Gavin and Alice, whimpering in fear. Alice spread her arms to embrace and reassure as many of them as she could, though her own heart was racing.
“Madam!” Kemp cried. “Madam!”
His body marched over to join the automatic army, his arms and legs stiff, his head turning left and right. Alice started to go after him, but Gavin took her shoulder.
“Wait,” he cautioned. “We don’t know what we’re dealing with yet.”
“Good advice,” said all the automatons at the same time, in the same voice. Even Kemp. The absolute unity of the sound made Alice’s skin crawl. “We are masters here. You will not leave.”
“Madam!” Kemp added.
“Who is this?” Alice demanded as she turned the handle of her parasol.
“We are Gonta-Zalizniak,” said the automatons. All of them, including Kemp, drew swords.
“You couldn’t get out of the basement in time to stop us, so you took over your guards. Is one of you controlling all of them,” Alice asked, not really caring but trying to stall so she could think, “or do each of you control one automaton?”
“You will not leave.” The swords vibrated with a sound like a pack of snarling dogs.
“Madam! I am trying to change the memory wheels, but I cannot. Help me, Madam!”
“Where are Phipps and Glenda and Simon?” Alice asked.
The automatons and Kemp took a step forward in unison. “You will not leave.”
“Stop us.” Gavin shoved the ear protectors back over his ears and cranked the generator again. The eerie sound rippled through the red marble room. All the automatons and Kemp jerked their heads in unison, then laughed together. Gavin stopped playing in confusion.
“Siren song is very beautiful,” the automatons said, “but not so enticing when we hear through metallic ears. Alice will exit and go to China. Gavin and pretty Oriental boy will come back downstairs with children. But first we will slice one or two open while you watch.”
“What?” Alice cried. “Why?”
“To punish you and Gavin, little baroness. To show that you are not in charge here. If you behave well after that, we promise to use nitrous oxide on Gavin and children before more experiments, though little baroness will have to take our word on that.”
Feng was trembling and his torso was sheathed in sweat, though his spidery face stayed impassive and he remained where he was at the back of the group of children. Alice glanced at Kemp, then back at the children. Damn it. She twisted her parasol handle again, and the high-pitched whine shrilled. Her hands shook.
“Madam, what are you doing?” Kemp asked. “Madam, please don’t!”
“I’m sorry, Kemp,” she said. “I’m so sorry.” And she fired a bolt of electricity. The children cried out and scrambled backward. The crackling bolt struck the center automaton square on and spread to the others, including Kemp. Alice bit her lip, but held her grip firm. All the hair on the back of her neck stood up, and the smell of ozone tanged the air.
The automatons stood still for a moment. Then they laughed again, even Kemp. One of the automatons extended a hand. Its forearm separated from its upper arm and shot across the room, still connected to the body by a stiff cable. The move caught Alice off guard, and the automaton’s hand was able to snatch the parasol from her hand and haul it back. It snapped the weapon in two and flung it aside. “No, no, no. We know about electric umbrella. We saw it work.”
“They’re standing on glass flooring,” Gavin said. “They aren’t grounded.”
“Good heavens,” Alice whispered, staring at the gleaming patch of floor. Kemp remained silent.
“You have no weapons now,” the automatons said. “You belong to us.”
The little clockwork army, including Kemp, spread out into a semicircle and stormed forward, their terrible growling swords at the ready. Before Alice could react, a bolt of red energy slashed through the air and punched through the chest of one of the automatons. It keeled over backward. Its sword went still. Alice spun. On the balcony behind and above them all stood Susan Phipps in her scarlet uniform with a large rifle in her hands and a battery pack on her back. Her brass monocle stared coldly down into the stone foyer. Beside her, also armed, were Simon d’Arco in black and Glenda Teasdale in yellow.
“Sorry it took so long to get here,” Phipps said. “We had to raid the Gonta armory first.”
“Oh God,” Gavin muttered.
“Fire!” Phipps ordered. Glenda and Simon obeyed. The air crackled with energies Alice couldn’t name. Gavin
