Agatha H. and the Airship City

“It’s the older generation that gets all horrified,” DuMedd said with a laugh. “The kids look forward to it all year long. That and the harvest. The fact that it scandalizes their parents? That’s usually seen as a bonus.”

Agatha looked around at them. “So what about your families?”

DuMedd’s face got sober. “I don’t have any family.” Agatha started to stammer an apology, but he waved it aside. “You couldn’t know. My parents died fighting air pirates about twelve years ago.”

“Really? Were they Sparks?”

“Yes. My father was more into the theoretical stuff, but my mother was Demonica Mongfish.”

The Mongfish name was one that was mentioned prominently in any history of the Spark. From their citadel in Novaya Zemlya, they had periodically terrorized the surrounding area. The latest, Lucifer Mongfish had been a perennial opponent to the Heterodyne Boys, so much so that, eventually, one of his three daughters, Lucrezia Mongfish, actually married Bill Heterodyne. After that, everyone pretty much agreed that fighting in public would be unseemly. Holiday get-togethers, however, were a different matter, and by mutual agreement, every event was held at a different location to reduce the collateral damage.

Most of the others had similar stories. Sleipnir concluded, “There’s also a few of the others who are still here, but they’re on duty, like your roommate, Zulenna. You’ll meet her later.”

“Zulenna. That’s a pretty name. Is she nice?” The others looked at each other.

“Um… no, not really,” Sleipnir admitted. “There’s a reason why she’s without a roommate at the moment.”

Suddenly they became aware of raised voices from the children’s table. “No—that’s not how they worked!”

“Oh, like you’d know!”

“I know enough to do basic research on biomechanics!”

“The only thing that’s basic around here is your grasp of the theories behind mechanical forces!”

“Oooh! You take that back!”

Agatha found this discussion a bit disconcerting, partly because it was delivered by a pair of twelve-year-olds, and partly because it sounded exactly like an argument she’d heard last week in the teacher’s lounge at the University.

“Make me, stupid head!”

“Ooh! I’m telling!”

Yep. Exactly.

Theo reached in and pulled the two apart. “Now what is this all about?”

A small, wiry boy sporting a large pair of goggles spoke up. “The bugs—”

The other boy, the freckled redhead with a small silver clock set into his forehead, interrupted. “Duh—Slaver wasps.”

“Get wound. You can’t just suck them out of people like in Theo’s story, can you?”

Theo nodded somberly. “That’s correct, Itto. Nothing can cure a revenant.”

“But the story said—”

“Stories are for fun. Do not mistake them for facts.”

Another child spoke up. “My father said that the wasps came out of machines.”

“That is correct. They’re called Hive Engines.”

A little girl piped up. “Oh that. We saw one of those.”

“What?” Sleipnir exclaimed. “Where?”

“We were playing on the dirigible deck and the footmen said we had to go. But we hid and we saw them unloading this big thing they called a Hive Engine.” She pointed towards Agatha. “They unloaded her too. She and her booooyyfriend were on stretchers.”

Everyone looked at Agatha expectantly. She nodded. “There was a Hive Engine in Dr. Beetle’s lab. I guess they brought it here.”

Zami looked upset. “A Hive Engine? In the middle of a town? What was this Dr. Beetle thinking?”

One of the black-clad servants suddenly appeared at his elbow. “Such talk is not for younger ears. Off with you.” To the obvious disappointment of the younger children, the older group moved off down the hall.

“I… I don’t know what he was thinking,” Agatha admitted. “About anything.”

Sleipnir broke in, “What is the Baron thinking bringing it here?”

Nicodeamus proclaimed, “The Baron can handle anything.”

The others looked at him. He shrugged. “Mostly.”

Meanwhile Theo had gotten a faraway look in his eyes. “So— Where would this Hive Engine be, do you think?”

Sleipnir looked at him askance. “The Large Dangerous Mechanical Lab would be my guess. Why?”

“Well… I’ve never seen a Hive Engine, now have I?”

Sleipnir wheeled around and prodded his chest with a finger. “You want to go sneaking into one of the Baron’s labs? Even after what happened to you the last time?”

Theo looked at her blankly. “Well… Yeah.”

Sleipnir did a quick jig. “Sweet! Let’s go!”

“What exactly did happen to you the last time?” Agatha asked.

“Oh never you mind that, Agatha,” said Sleipnir. “Come on, it’ll be fun!”

“Plus,” pointed out Nicodeamus, “she’s the only one who knows what this thing looks like.”

Agatha felt a sudden tug at her skirt. Looking down, she saw Itto standing defiantly. “I want to come too,” he announced.

Theo shook his head. “Forget it, Itto. You’re too young. Von Pinn would kill me.”

“I won’t tell her!”

“No! You stay here.”

With that the group moved off. Agatha’s last view of Itto was of the youngster sullenly kicking a table leg. Once around the corner, she hurried to catch up to Sleipnir. “You can’t tell me that we can just waltz into one of the Baron’s labs.”

Sleipnir winked. “You’d be surprised. Most of the labs aren’t that well guarded.”

Zami nodded. “The Baron is most careful about who gets onto the Castle in the first place.”

“And getting off is even harder,” Nicodeamus added.

“Besides,” Theo pointed out, “we’re not going to walk in through the front door. There’s lots of ways—” He was interrupted by Agatha, who had stopped dead and put a finger to her lips. The others stopped and, a second later, a small figure slipped around the corner they had just turned and ran straight into Agatha’s waiting hands.

“ITTO!” Frantically the boy tried to break free from Agatha. Theo’s hand descended onto his shoulder. “You were told not to come.”

Agatha looked slightly relieved. “I’ll just take him back—”

Sleipnir shook her head. “Oh no, he’s coming with us now.”

Itto punched the air. “Yes!”

“BUT—”Sleipnir continued to the boy, “if you get infected by a Slaver wasp, we’ll have to kill you.”

Itto’s eyes got huge behind his goggles. “What?”

Sleipnir looked sad. “Sure, and I’d hate to do it. So whatever you do, don’t open your mouth. Understand?”

Itto nodded frantically and clapped a hand over his mouth.

They moved off in silence, twisting and turning through corridors until Theo stopped before an unobtrusive door. Reaching into his vest, he pulled out a large bunch of keys. He flipped through them, selected one and delicately probed the lock. A quick twist, a muffled thunk, and the door swung open. With