Cristof stood deep in thought, his usual frown in place.
'As much as I'd prefer to stay in the bank than go up to the tower,' he said at last, 'there's too much evidence pointing to the Great Engine.'
'But how would someone get up there?' Emelie asked.
'You can hike up to the Tower,' Isobel pointed out. 'It's dangerous, but it's possible. The wireferry service path runs all the way to the top.'
'So somebody could already be up there.' Cristof looked at Taya. 'Is there any way—'
'No. I'm not taking you up in the dark.'
'But if someone's trying to sabotage the Great Engine—'
'They're not climbing up in the dark, either. It's too dangerous.'
'How long would the hike take?' Cristof asked Isobel.
'Depends. From Primus, at this time of year, two or three days, depending on how athletic and well- equipped you are. The cliffs are the hardest part. You'd need to know what you were doing, and you wouldn't want to get caught on the cliffs at night.'
'Is the only access to the Great Engine through the Council tower?' Taya asked.
'As far as I know, yes,' Kyle replied. 'All the construction tunnels were blocked and sealed after the Engine was put into place.'
'There's got to be some kind of maintenance tunnel. What if one of the steam engines needs replacing? Or a megagear?' Cristof insisted.
'Well, if there's another way in, it's a state secret. You'd know it better than we would.'
Cristof looked frustrated as he pulled out his watch and checked it.
'It's not even nine yet,' he muttered.
'How long would it take you to examine this program and find out exactly what it does?' Taya asked, turning to the programming team.
'A few hours, maybe.'
'Would you do that? So far, all we have are suspicions. We could be completely wrong, and there's no point in speculating until we know what this does for sure.'
'We might as well,' Victor said, eying the boxes. 'We can't do anything else until Lars reassembles the engine.'
'Good.' Taya grabbed a graphite pencil and scribbled her address on the corner of Kyle's schematic. 'When you find out what it does, send a message to me here. No matter what time it is, okay?'
'What if we find out it is some kind of security workaround?' Lars asked. 'Do you want us to tell the lictors?'
She looked at Cristof. He nodded.
'It could make Alister look bad,' Kyle warned.
'I know. I trust that you won't raise any alarms unless you're certain there's a security risk. But if you feel there's a genuine threat to the city, warn the lictors and tell them your suspicions about a bank robbery.'
'Don't mention that we're going to the tower, though,' Taya added. 'Please.'
'All right. And don't worry, we'll be careful. Our reputations are linked to Alister's.' Isobel shook her long hair back over her shoulders. 'I can't believe he'd do anything shady, though. This has to be some kind of mistake.'
'I hope it is,' Cristof agreed.
'We'll leave you to work,' Taya said, putting down the pencil. 'Come on, Cristof.'
The exalted equivocated a moment, then followed after her.
'Where are we going?'
'All we can do now is spin our gears, so we might as well go home and try to get some sleep.'
'Just stop? When we finally have some idea of what's going on?'
'All we have are suspicions until they analyze that program. And all you can do with suspicions is give yourself a stomachache.'
'There's such a thing as being too pragmatic, icarus.'
'Do you have a better idea?'
'I'm going back to Alister's office to look for more information. We barely made a dent in that mess.'
'You're just going to frustrate yourself,' she predicted.
'I'm used to that. And I don't expect I'll get much sleep tonight, anyway.'
'All right. I'll walk you back.'
'No. Don't bother.' His eyes slid away from her. 'Get some rest. You're going to have your hands full tomorrow morning.'
'Are you sure?'
'Yes.'
Taya sensed Cristof's reserve kicking in again. She didn't have the energy to fight it again. 'All right. I'll see you at dawn, then. Meet me at the gate next to the flight docks.'
'Shortly after five.' He hesitated, then reached into his vest. Gold glinted in his hand as he held it out. 'Don't be late.'
'I don't need that.'
'Just in case. Since your eyrie clock is inaccurate.'
She met his eyes a moment, then took it. The pocket watch's gold case was warm. She curled her fingers around it.
'I'll see you at dawn.'
He nodded, and she turned and headed for the University dock, tucking the watch into her flight suit.
As she circled up into the night sky, she spotted him standing under a streetlight, peering upward. She tipped her wings to him, and he waved.
The landlady knocked on her door. Taya rolled over in bed, pulling her covers under her chin.
'What?' she groaned.
'That clockwright is here to see you,' Gwen said, her voice quivering with disapproval. 'He says it's important.'
Taya stared at the ceiling.
'What time is it?'
'Almost eleven. I told him we don't open the doors for groundlings after ten, but he insists, and he is an exalted, even if he's a freak.'
'All right. I'm coming.' She rolled out of bed, grabbing her slippers.
Gwen sat downstairs in the cloakroom, matching Cristof scowl for scowl. She outweighed him by a considerable amount and wasn't cowed by his castemark.
He broke their mutual glare when Taya walked in.
'It isn't dawn.' Taya rubbed her face. 'Maybe you need your watch back, so you can tell the time?'
'I need to talk to you.'
'I was asleep!'
He turned to the landlady.
'May we have a moment in private, please?'
'Not in here,' Gwen declared. 'I don't care what my icarii do elsewhere, but this boarding house stays quiet after ten. If you want to talk, you can take your conversation outside.'
'Taya—' he turned to her. 'It's important.'
'It's also freezing.' She was already cold, wearing nothing but her red flannel nightgown and threadbare slippers. 'And late.'
'Here.' He pulled off his greatcoat and held it out for her. 'Just for a minute.'
