Goliath

for him, without thinking of the consequences. The lady boffin never liked the fellow, she says, and this just confirms that he’s a . . .” He shrugged and switched to English, “A bum-rag.”

“Bum-rag,” Bovril said, and giggled.

“But who is he?” Alek asked in English.

Dylan shrugged again. “A Clanker boffin of some kind. That’s all Dr. Barlow will say.”

Alek finished his bacon, then looked at the parts scattered all around them and sighed. “Well, let’s finish and see what happens when we turn it on.”

“Is that a good idea?” Dylan looked down at the batteries, which Hoffman was charging with the power lines for the airship’s searchlights. “It’s stored enough electricity to throw sparks, or even explode. And we’re hanging from a million cubic feet of hydrogen!”

Alek turned to Klopp and said in German, “Dylan thinks this could be dangerous.”

“Nonsense.” Klopp prodded the battery case with his cane. “It’s designed to run for a long time at low voltage.”

“Or designed to look that way,” Dylan said, then switched to English. “Newkirk, fetch Dr. Barlow, would you?”

The other middy nodded and scampered off, looking happy to leave the Clanker device behind.

As they waited, Alek put together the control panel, polishing every piece with his sleeve. It was good to feel useful again, to have built something, even if he had no idea what it was.

When Dr. Barlow arrived, she walked once around the machine, both she and the creature on her shoulder inspecting it closely. The two lorises jabbered to each other, Bovril repeating the names of electrikal parts that it had learned during the night.

“Well done, all of you,” Dr. Barlow said in her flawless German. “I take it this is a magnetic device of some kind?”

“Yes, ma’am.” Klopp glanced at Dylan. “And I’m certain it won’t explode.”

“I should hope not.” Dr. Barlow took a step back. “Well, we haven’t much time. If you please, Alek, let’s find out what it does.”

“If you please,” her loris added imperiously, which made Bovril giggle.

Alek took a slow breath, his hand pausing over the power switch. For a moment he wondered if Dylan might be right. They had no idea what this machine was.

But they’d spent all night putting the device together. There was no point in letting it sit here. He turned the power switch. . . .

For a moment nothing happened, but then a flickering glow appeared in each of the three glass spheres on the machine’s top. In the drafty cargo bay Alek felt heat emanating from the machine, and a soft whine built in his ears.

The two lorises began to imitate the sound, and then Tazza joined in, until the cargo bay was humming. A sliver of light came into being inside each of the glass spheres, an electrikal disturbance, like a tiny, trapped bolt of lightning.

“Most intriguing,” Dr. Barlow said.

“Aye, but what is it?” Dylan asked.

“As a biologist, I’m sure I don’t know.” The lady boffin lifted Bovril from Klopp’s shoulder. “But our perspicacious friend has been watching and listening all night.”

She placed the loris on the floor. It immediately clambered onto the machine, sniffing the batteries, the control panel, and finally the three glass spheres. While it moved, it kept up a steady nonsense conversation with Dr. Barlow’s loris, the two beasts repeating the names of electrikal parts and concepts to each other.

Alek watched with bemusement. He’d always wondered how Dr. Barlow had expected these creatures to keepowettomans out of the war. They were charming enough but hardly likely to sway an entire empire toward Darwinism. He half suspected they had been only a ruse, an excuse to take the Leviathan to Istanbul, and that the real plan had always been to force the strait with the behemoth.

But was there more to these lorises than met the eye?

Finally Bovril reached out a hand toward Dr. Barlow, who only frowned. But the beast on her shoulder seemed to understand. It slipped its tiny hands behind the woman’s head and unclasped her necklace.

Dr. Barlow raised an eyebrow as the creature handed her jewelry over to Bovril.

“What in blazes—,” Dylan began, but the lady boffin waved him silent.

Bovril held the necklace close to one of the glass spheres, and a trickle of lightning leapt out, creating a shivering connection between the pendant and the glass sphere.

“Magnetic,” Bovril said.

The creature swung the pendant, and the tiny finger of light followed it back and forth. When Bovril pulled the necklace away, the lightning seemed to lose interest, retreating back into its glass sphere.

“God’s wounds,” Alek said softly. “That’s quite odd.”

“What’s that necklace made of, madam?” asked Klopp.

“The pendant is steel.” Dr. Barlow nodded. “Quite ferrous, I should think.”

“So it’s for detecting metal.” Klopp pushed himself to his feet, then brought his cane up. As its steel tip drew close to one of the spheres, another trickle of lightning leapt out to meet it.

“Why would you need such a thing?” Dylan asked.

Klopp fell back into his chair. “You might use it to discover land mines. Though it’s quite sensitive, so perhaps you could find a buried telegraph line. Or a buried treasure! Who knows?”

“Treasure!” Bovril declared.

“Telegraph lines? Pirate treasure?” Dylan shook his head. “Those hardly sound like things you’d find in Siberia.”

Alek took a cautious step closer, squinting at the machine. The three glass spheres had settled into a jittering pattern, each tiny finger of lightning pointing in a different direction. “What’s it detecting now?”

“One’s aimed straight back at the stern,” Dylan said. “And the other two are pointed up and toward the bow.”

The two lorises made a rumbling sound.

“Of course,” Hoffman said. “Most of the Leviathan is wood and flesh. But the engines are full of metal.”

Dylan whistled. “They must be two hundred yards away.”

“Yes, it’s a clever machine,” Klopp said. “Even if it was designed by a madman.”

“I just wonder what he’s looking for.” The lady boffin stroked Tazza’s fur as she contemplated the device, then turned and walked toward the door. “Well, I’m sure we’ll find out soon enough. Mr. Sharp, see that all this is hidden away in a locked storeroom. And please don’t mention it to the crew, any of you.”

Alek frowned. “But won’t this . . . boffin fellow be wondering where it is?”

“Indeed.” Dr. Barlow gave him a smile as she slipped through the door. “And watching him squirm with curiosity should prove most interesting.”

Alek headed back toward his stateroom soon after, wanting to get an hour’s sleep before they arrived at their destination. He should have gone straight to Count Volger, he supposed, but he was too exhausted to endure a barrage of questions from the man. So instead Alek whistled for a message lizard when he reached his room.

When the creature appeared, Alek said, “Count Volger, we shall arrive at our destination within the hour. But I still have no idea where that is. The cargo contained a Clanker machine of some kind. More later, when I’ve had some sleep. End message.”

Alek smiled as the creature scuttled away into its tube. He’d never sent Volger a message lizard before, but it was high time the man accepted that the beasts were part of life here aboard the Leviathan.

Not bothering to remove his boots, Alek stretched out on his bunk. His eyes closed, but he could still see the glass tubes and shining metal parts of the mysterious device. His exhausted mind began to play a game of putting together its pieces, counting screws and measuring with calipers.

He groaned, wishing the thoughts would let him sleep. But mechanikal puzzles had taken over his brain. Perhaps this proved he was a Clanker at heart and there would never be a place for him aboard a Darwinist