She glanced toward the window, wondering if they could escape that way. Lantern light danced past-men were out there, too, perhaps counting rooms to figure out which office she and Rias occupied.
The door opened wider, and the slash of light broadened, illuminating the corner of the desk and a coatrack.
A rifle barrel slid through the gap.
Tikaya tensed, expecting Rias to shoot first. Despite the chill, sweat dampened her hands.
The rifle slid in farther, and Rias burst into motion. He grabbed the barrel, yanked it into the room, and slashed upward with his cutlass. The attacker yelped in surprise and pain, releasing the weapon. Rias planted a foot, thrust the other man back, and slammed the door shut.
“ One man disarmed, seven to go.” He shoved the desk against the frame again.
Muffled voices came through the door-the sound of people plotting. The next attack would not be so easy to thwart.
“ There are men milling around outside too,” Tikaya said.
“ You think I don’t know that?” Rias snapped.
She stared at him, startled. He had never so much as looked crossly at her. Then she remembered: “I guess the protection from whatever the artifact is putting out was limited to that room.”
After a silent beat, Rias said, “You’re right. I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking. It’s like before; something’s making it hard to keep my equanimity.”
“ Your breakdown is a lot less disturbing than that of most of your countrymen.”
He grunted.
“ I feel it too,” Tikaya said. “It’s nothing you can see, nothing you smell or feel. Maybe I’ve been going about this the wrong way. Like a, well, like a philologist. But maybe I don’t need to translate the writing on the bottom in order to cut the device off. If we can guess what its purpose is, maybe we can switch it to another purpose, something less troublesome. It has all those options you can put in-doesn’t that imply you ought to be able to get more than one thing out?”
“ What could it be putting out that would affect us mentally? It’s nothing we’ve seen or heard or smelled.”
“ An odorless gas?” Tikaya guessed.
“ Ah, being disseminated through that pipe, perhaps?”
“ It’d have to be something invisible but heavy enough to float down and blanket the town. Something designed to irritate people, to outright anger them, even make-”
A shot fired.
Tikaya jerked her head up in time to see Rias slam the door shut again. The scent of black powder tainted the air.
“ Only two in the hallway now,” Rias said. “They’ve either lost interest or they’re going to try another way in.”
“ We have to get back to the device,” Tikaya said. “If we punch in another gas, maybe it’ll change the output. Something innocuous that won’t hurt anyone.”
Thumps continued at the door, probably more for the purpose of distracting Tikaya and Rias than getting in. The lanterns previously visible through the window had disappeared, which made her think the marines had stopped planning and were now engaged in that plan. She shifted her stance, readying herself to fire toward the window if necessary. The last thing she wanted was to dodge another blasting stick.
“ Innocuous gases,” Rias said. “Oxygen? Hydrogen?”
“ We tried those, albeit on accident. And you pressed in water, which should be deliverable as a vapor. Except the device didn’t like any of those.” Tikaya groaned. “Maybe my guess is completely wrong.”
“ Or maybe the machine is only designed to create synthetic or organic compounds,” Rias said. “Though I don’t know any molecular structures that might qualify. Do you?”
“ No, but maybe there’s something in your book.” She tapped it with the pistol butt.
“ There aren’t many innocuous somethings in that book.”
“ I know it’s a long shot, but-wait, no. When your people captured me, they knocked me out with something sweet-smelling in a rag. When I breathed in, I passed out. Do you know what that was? Would it be in there?”
Rias shifted away from the door. “Chloroform. Yes.”
The thuds stopped.
“ Let’s try it.” Tikaya had a feeling it would be better to find a light and check the book in a different room. “Can we get down the hall?”
Rias cracked the door. A rifle fired, and the ball smashed into the frame, hurling wood splinters. He closed the door.
“ Not at this time.”
Tikaya snorted. She pressed her nose to the icy glass window panes. At the edge of her view, shadows and lanterns moved.
“ Not this way either,” she said. “Unless we can-oh!”
“ What?”
“ Maybe nothing, but Agarik and I had to shove our way into the room with the artifact. The window was boarded, the door barricaded, so whoever killed all those men must have come in through-”
“ Attic,” Rias said. “There must be space to move around up there. Watch the door.” He hopped onto the desk and thumped the ceiling. Wood scraped against wood. “Here.”
Outside, the lanterns headed toward their window.
“ I need help up.” Annoyed to be a burden, Tikaya stuffed the pistol in her pants and joined him, book clutched against her chest. “I don’t think I can lift my arm over-”
Still standing on the desk, Rias caught her by the waist and lifted her over his head as if she weighed nothing. Blackness waited above, though an icy draft touched her cheek. That meant a way out. She hoped.
“ Hurry,” Rias said, giving her a final boost.
Tikaya scrambled into the dark attic. Even with his help, she came down on her shoulder and had to stifle a curse. When she tried to stand, she bumped her head on a beam.
Below, glass shattered.
“ Rias?” She started to lean over to check on him.
He jumped through and a thud sounded-his head hitting the ceiling-but he did not pause to acknowledge it.
“ Go, go!” he barked, pushing her ahead of him.
Half running, half bear-crawling, Tikaya maneuvered past beams and supports.
Light flashed and an explosion rippled through the floorboards beneath her. The force sent her crashing into Rias, and they went down in a tumble.
“ Ooph,” he grunted, voice sounding odd.
Then her mind caught up to the situation. Rias had been behind her, not in front of her.
Tikaya tried to jump back, but the man grabbed her. She dropped the book. His grip kept her from reaching for the pistol. He unshuttered a lantern, illuminating beams, trusses, and his snarling face. One of the marines.
“ Got her!” he yelled.
Rias charged past Tikaya and tackled the man. The lantern flew free. In a lucky lunge, she caught it before it hit the floor and went out. Though her shoulder protested, she held it with her left hand and yanked the pistol free with her right.
Rias needed no help though. He knelt over the marine, arms locked around his neck. The man’s face turned purple, and he passed out.
A shadow moved behind Rias.
Tikaya reacted. She fired the pistol without thinking, and the ball hammered into someone’s chest. Rias spun to look.
Only after the man collapsed did her brain scream that these people were her captors and aiming to kill one might get her into a mess of trouble.
“ It’s Lieutenant Commander Okars.” Rias checked the officer’s pulse. “It was Lieutenant Commander Okars.”
