Goliath

Alek’s mind processed the words, and a chill cut through the warm air of the officers’ baths. In the last two days he’d forgotten to worry about Tesla and his city-destroying weapon, or Volger’s plan to stop him. The possibility of murdering the inventor had never seemed quite real, but the look on the wildcount’s face was deadly serious.

Bovril shifted nervously on the windowsill.

“So you’re on your way to kill a man, and thought you’d stop by and ask for help221;

“I didn’t want to involve you in this, Alek. But we have to know if Tesla is leaving the ship today. He has refused to meet with me, but he’ll talk to you.” Volger’s face showed a hint of a smile. “You are all in the newspapers.”

Alek only glared, though the man was right. In the navigation room Tesla had been excited to meet him—the famous prince. And an invitation to dinner had been slipped under Alek’s stateroom door yesterday morning. He had ignored it, of course.

“You want me to find out if he’s staying on board.”

“If you please, Prince.”

“And what if he’s about to leave? Will you and Klopp gut him on the gangplank?”

“Neither Klopp nor I will be anywhere near the spot. Nor shall you.”

“Gut him on the gangplank,” Bovril said gravely.

Alek swore. “Have you gone mad? If Bauer and Hoffman murder someone on this ship, the Darwinists will know who ordered it!”

“I may not have to order anything.” The wildcount gestured toward the door. “But it’s up to you to find out.”

“And you waited until now to tell me?” Alek spat, but Volger’s cold smile didn’t shift. The man had picked this moment on purpose, when Alek wouldn’t have time to argue. “What if I just stand here?”

“Then Hoffman and Bauer will follow their orders. They’re already in place.”

Alek lifted Bovril from the windowsill and put the beast on his shoulder. He took a step toward the door, ready to find his men and tell them to stand down. But where were they lying in wait? And worse, what if they ignored his commands? Now that they were all back aboard the Leviathan, Volger was in charge again.

Alek’s two days of sulking had made certain of that.

“Damn you, Volger. You shouldn’t concoct plans without me. And you shouldn’t keep secrets from me either!”

“Ah.” For a moment the man looked genuinely sorrowful. “That was regrettable. But I did warn you not to make friends with a commoner.”

“Yes, but you left out something rather important. Did you really think I was too fragile to know what Deryn was?”

“Fragile?” Volger looked about. “I hadn’t thought so, but now I find you brooding in a bathroom. This doesn’t speak well of your sturdiness.”

“I haven’t been brooding! I’ve been exploring the ship.”

“Exploring? And what have you discovered, Your Serene Highness?”

Alek turned back to the window, feeling a fresh wave of emptiness in his gut.

“That I can’t trust anyone, and that no one has any faith in me. That my best friend was . . . a fiction.”

“Brooding,” Bovril said.

Count Volger was silent. Alek almost added that his suspicion was that Deryn Sharp was in love with him, but he didn’t want to see the scorn on Volger’s face.

“I’ve been a fool,” he finally said.

Volger shook his head. “But hardly a singular fool. That girl has tricked her officers and crewmates for months, and has been decorated in the line of duty. She even fooled me for some time. In her way, she’s quite impressive.”

“You admire her, Count?”

“As one does a bear riding a bicycle. One sees it so rarely.”

Alek shook his head. “And along with your admiration, you decided to blackmail her.”

“I needed her help to get off this ship. I thought I could prevent you from joining in that pointless revolution and getting yourself killed.” The annoyance in Volger’s voice faded a bit. “Of course, who knows? We may have need of her help again.”

“Are you saying I should stay friends with her?”

“Of course not. I’m saying that we can still blackmail her.”

“Get stuffed,” Alek said, and suddenly he had to get out of the steam and heat. He strode toward the door, halting with one hand tight around the knob. “I’m going to Tesla’s cabin. If he intends to disembark today, I shall call the ship’s marines to escort him off in safety.”

“It’s your right to betray us, of course.” Volger bowed. “We are at your disposal.”

“I won’t betray you aloud, Volger, but the captain might draw unfortunate conclusions. Unless you promise me right now that—”

“I can’t, Alek. Tesla’s claims may be madness, but it isn’t worth the risk. Two million of your people live in Vienna, and that’s probably only the first city on his list. You saw what his machine can do.”

Alek pulled the door open. He didn’t have time for this argument, and he couldn’t let a man be killed over some imaginary threat. He had to stop this now. But he found himself pausing to say one more thing.

“If you threaten Deryn Sharp again, Volger—in any way at all—I’m done with you.”

The man only bowed again, and Alek left, slamming the door behind him.

Mr. Tesla was still in his stateroom, but a leather suitcase lay on the bed. One of the Russians was packing while Tesla worked at the laboratory bench. The electrikal walking stick lay before him, partly disassembled.

Alek knocked on the open door. “Excuse me, Mr. Tesla?”

The man looked up with irritation on his face, then brightened. “Prince Aleksandar. You appear at last!”

Alek returned the bow. “I aologize for not answering your note. I’ve been indisposed.”

“No need, Prince,” Tesla said, then his eyes narrowed at Bovril. “So you really have become a Darwinist.”

“Oh, this beast? It’s . . . a perspicacious loris. ‘Perspicacious’ meaning ‘wise or canny.’”

“Get stuffed,” Bovril said, then giggled.

“And it insults people,” Tesla said. “How peculiar.”

Alek gave the creature a sharp look. “Bovril is usually more polite, as am I. It was an oversight not to join you last night. We have much to discuss.”

The man turned back to his walking stick, his long fingers twisting a coil of wire round and round. “Meals are a dismal affair on this ship, at any rate.”

“The food isn’t so bad when the galley has supplies.” Alek wondered why he was defending the Leviathan, but he went on. “The vegetables are grown fresh in the gut, and sometimes the strafing hawks bring their prey back for us.”

“Ah, that would explain the braised hare. The highlight of the evening.”

Alek raised an eyebrow. This man had eaten fresh meat while Alek had been chewing on old biscuits? Of course, if the Darwinists believed that Goliath worked, they’d happily feed Tesla caviar three times a day.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t here to share it with you. But now that the ship is resupplied, perhaps dinner tonight?”

Mr. Tesla’s face darkened. “I must return to New York as quickly as possible. At last I have the data to complete my work.”

“I see.” Alek took a slow breath, then looked at the Russian, who was folding a pair of trousers. “Might we have a moment alone, Mr. Tesla?”

Tesla waved a hand. “I have no secrets from Lieutenant Gareev.”

Alek frowned. Tesla had a Russian officer as his valet? No doubt one of the czar’s confidants, sent to keep an eye on the inventor.