Fiction: Don't Stop Part 37
Title: Don't Stop Part 37
Words: 1312
A/N: I was going to give you all of the ending in one final chapter but it seems it will be even longer than I thought so here's a teaser.
The two grappling hooks landed almost simultaneously and Marie and Miss Sarah grinned at each other before pressing the button that caused the rope to wind up and them to rise into the air towards the bottom of Amberfitche's zeppelin. They landed on the thin walkway running along the outside of the gondola's base and crouched together as Sparky's copy climbing off Marie's back. They needed to find a way in before they reached the Funnel proper or the whipping winds of the construction would throw them off in a heartbeat. The small Sparky pulled on Marie's shirtsleeve and pointed forward on the ship and when she squinted her eyes she could see the outline of what had to be a service hatch of some kind in the polished hard wood.
Sparky's clone stopped Marie as she was about to start opening the hatch. He waved off her questioning look and mumbled something under his breath that sent tickles down Marie's arm. Thaumaturgy again. Around the door light blue runes flared and Sparky's voice changed into a commanding tone. The runes flared in defiance for a second before fading and disappearing. The wind whipped Marie's hair around her face and stole her breath with the gusts. She felt Miss Sarah's presence beside her as they waited for the little Sparky to get the hatch open. The airship was right under the funnel now, maneuvering to get it's bulk in place for the large machinery to latch on and carry it up above the air-lid that was both a blessing and a curse for Chrysopoeia. It made travel to the city difficult but it also kept it safe from attackers.
Finally Sparky let out a whoop and the door slammed open helped by the wind. The three of them quickly slipped inside and pulled the hatch closed after themselves. They stood in a dimly lit corridor, firefly lamps flickering far apart, their light almost completely eaten by the dark wood of the walls. Marie flicked out the knives hidden under her shirtsleeves and Miss Sarah pulled up the front of her skirts and snapped the buckles that held them to her corset closed. Her black knee-long bloomers had little stars embroidered in random patterns. Marie snickered silently when she saw them and Miss Sarah bristled.
"You be silent! I was bored one evening and had the yarn already."
"Mmm... sure. I bet your mother would be very pleased to see the skills she so patiently drilled into you put to good use."
"If you ladies are finished I think I can feel my Prime in that direction." Sparky's clone indicated the part of the corridor that led towards the front of the ship and Marie and Sarah quickly resumed their professional stance. The trio moved along the corridor, keeping their eyes and ears open but it seemed this part of the large airship was largely abandoned and Marie muttered a silent prayer of thanks to Murinae, the god of thieves and assassins. They passed the middle of the ship and Sparky whispered:
"Really close now, should be one of these doors..." They moved few more feet and a very familiar voice rang out.
"This is by far the worst hostage taking ever. What ever makes you think these pathetic chains will hold me. I'm the greatest thief in all of Chrysopoiea!"
Marie held her breath as she listened with her ear against the door. She heard Sparky of course, he kept rambling to his catchers, and there had to be at least one more of them in there. Not that Sparky wouldn't talk to himself but it was at least likely. She strained to see if she could hear anyone else in the room. Nothing, which meant there couldn't be more than three guards inside, more than that and they wouldn't be able to keep quiet. She glanced to Sarah and held up three fingers with a questioning tilt to the head. Miss Sarah nodded her and agreement and they both looked at the small Sparky who also nodded. Three versus three seemed almost like cheating.
"I can't believe you three numb-nuts hasn't even put wards on the door. I'm going to get out of this with my eyes closed." Sparky's voice rang through the door and his three rescuers dropped into fighting stances, their estimates confirmed by the portly thief who most likely could feel his little copy as well as it could feel him.
The door was hinged to swing out into the corridor and since that ruled out the classic kicking in of the door Marie had resources. She pulled out something that looked like a playing card from a pouch on her tool-belt, one edge glowed faintly and she turned that inside as she slid the card along the crack in the door, just over the locking mechanism. She'd timed it to the start of another rambling sentence from Sparky so the faint hiss of the hatch dissolving was hopefully only heard by the three in the corridor. Marie checked on the others who nodded as she grabbed the brass doorknob and mouthed a countdown from three.
The fight was short and brutal. After they burst through the door one of the guards fell with Marie's knife protruding from his neck while the other, close to the door dropped like a rock after Miss Sarah's hard punch to his chin. The third guard, cause there were indeed three of them, started moving towards a large communication tube on the wall but doubled over as Sparky's clone punched him in the crotch and followed it up with a hard hit to the back of his neck making him topple over and land unconscious not even a full step towards his goal.
"What the heck where you doing out there? Knitting doilies? I thought you'd never get your ass in gear." Sparky had lowered his voice as they cut the ropes that bound him to the chair and started picking the lock to the shackles that was fastened in the floor. Apparently Amberfitches' goons had taken Sparky's skills seriously at least.
"I like you Sparky but not enough to barge into a room unprepared... not to mention I needed to disable the lock too."
"So slow... remind me to give you a lesson in proper lock-picking sometime."
"Bah, I'd rather be slow and silent than fast and noisy..."
"And that applies to so many aspects of life... are you getting me loose or what?"
"Do it yourself if you're that impatient," Marie hissed.
Sparky replied with a harrumph and snatched the picks. Miss Sarah hushed at them both from the door where she was keeping guard.
It didn't take many seconds for Sparky to free himself from the shackles. He returned the picks to Marie with a triumphant look and she huffed dismissively in return.
"Now if you ladies would kindly turn your backs for a second I can return myself to my original bulk." He did indeed look thinner than he usually did and Marie filed that information away for future use. Cloners were rare and not much was known about them and while she wasn't about to give up her friends secrets Marie was well aware that knowledge is power.
Marie went to keep Miss Sarah company by the door while Sparky did his thing, there was a sound like a stone landing in mud followed by a sharply drawn in breath before the red headed thief joined them.
"All done, now... I believe we have a rogue scientist to catch?"
"Indeed we do. Did you get a feel of this place when they brought you in?"
"Just the bottom decks unfortunately and the most interesting thing down here, besides me then, is the lab in the bow. Seems big and well guarded. Entrance is up one deck I think."
"Excellent. Let's move."
Words: 1312
A/N: I was going to give you all of the ending in one final chapter but it seems it will be even longer than I thought so here's a teaser.
The two grappling hooks landed almost simultaneously and Marie and Miss Sarah grinned at each other before pressing the button that caused the rope to wind up and them to rise into the air towards the bottom of Amberfitche's zeppelin. They landed on the thin walkway running along the outside of the gondola's base and crouched together as Sparky's copy climbing off Marie's back. They needed to find a way in before they reached the Funnel proper or the whipping winds of the construction would throw them off in a heartbeat. The small Sparky pulled on Marie's shirtsleeve and pointed forward on the ship and when she squinted her eyes she could see the outline of what had to be a service hatch of some kind in the polished hard wood.
Sparky's clone stopped Marie as she was about to start opening the hatch. He waved off her questioning look and mumbled something under his breath that sent tickles down Marie's arm. Thaumaturgy again. Around the door light blue runes flared and Sparky's voice changed into a commanding tone. The runes flared in defiance for a second before fading and disappearing. The wind whipped Marie's hair around her face and stole her breath with the gusts. She felt Miss Sarah's presence beside her as they waited for the little Sparky to get the hatch open. The airship was right under the funnel now, maneuvering to get it's bulk in place for the large machinery to latch on and carry it up above the air-lid that was both a blessing and a curse for Chrysopoeia. It made travel to the city difficult but it also kept it safe from attackers.
Finally Sparky let out a whoop and the door slammed open helped by the wind. The three of them quickly slipped inside and pulled the hatch closed after themselves. They stood in a dimly lit corridor, firefly lamps flickering far apart, their light almost completely eaten by the dark wood of the walls. Marie flicked out the knives hidden under her shirtsleeves and Miss Sarah pulled up the front of her skirts and snapped the buckles that held them to her corset closed. Her black knee-long bloomers had little stars embroidered in random patterns. Marie snickered silently when she saw them and Miss Sarah bristled.
"You be silent! I was bored one evening and had the yarn already."
"Mmm... sure. I bet your mother would be very pleased to see the skills she so patiently drilled into you put to good use."
"If you ladies are finished I think I can feel my Prime in that direction." Sparky's clone indicated the part of the corridor that led towards the front of the ship and Marie and Sarah quickly resumed their professional stance. The trio moved along the corridor, keeping their eyes and ears open but it seemed this part of the large airship was largely abandoned and Marie muttered a silent prayer of thanks to Murinae, the god of thieves and assassins. They passed the middle of the ship and Sparky whispered:
"Really close now, should be one of these doors..." They moved few more feet and a very familiar voice rang out.
"This is by far the worst hostage taking ever. What ever makes you think these pathetic chains will hold me. I'm the greatest thief in all of Chrysopoiea!"
Marie held her breath as she listened with her ear against the door. She heard Sparky of course, he kept rambling to his catchers, and there had to be at least one more of them in there. Not that Sparky wouldn't talk to himself but it was at least likely. She strained to see if she could hear anyone else in the room. Nothing, which meant there couldn't be more than three guards inside, more than that and they wouldn't be able to keep quiet. She glanced to Sarah and held up three fingers with a questioning tilt to the head. Miss Sarah nodded her and agreement and they both looked at the small Sparky who also nodded. Three versus three seemed almost like cheating.
"I can't believe you three numb-nuts hasn't even put wards on the door. I'm going to get out of this with my eyes closed." Sparky's voice rang through the door and his three rescuers dropped into fighting stances, their estimates confirmed by the portly thief who most likely could feel his little copy as well as it could feel him.
The door was hinged to swing out into the corridor and since that ruled out the classic kicking in of the door Marie had resources. She pulled out something that looked like a playing card from a pouch on her tool-belt, one edge glowed faintly and she turned that inside as she slid the card along the crack in the door, just over the locking mechanism. She'd timed it to the start of another rambling sentence from Sparky so the faint hiss of the hatch dissolving was hopefully only heard by the three in the corridor. Marie checked on the others who nodded as she grabbed the brass doorknob and mouthed a countdown from three.
The fight was short and brutal. After they burst through the door one of the guards fell with Marie's knife protruding from his neck while the other, close to the door dropped like a rock after Miss Sarah's hard punch to his chin. The third guard, cause there were indeed three of them, started moving towards a large communication tube on the wall but doubled over as Sparky's clone punched him in the crotch and followed it up with a hard hit to the back of his neck making him topple over and land unconscious not even a full step towards his goal.
"What the heck where you doing out there? Knitting doilies? I thought you'd never get your ass in gear." Sparky had lowered his voice as they cut the ropes that bound him to the chair and started picking the lock to the shackles that was fastened in the floor. Apparently Amberfitches' goons had taken Sparky's skills seriously at least.
"I like you Sparky but not enough to barge into a room unprepared... not to mention I needed to disable the lock too."
"So slow... remind me to give you a lesson in proper lock-picking sometime."
"Bah, I'd rather be slow and silent than fast and noisy..."
"And that applies to so many aspects of life... are you getting me loose or what?"
"Do it yourself if you're that impatient," Marie hissed.
Sparky replied with a harrumph and snatched the picks. Miss Sarah hushed at them both from the door where she was keeping guard.
It didn't take many seconds for Sparky to free himself from the shackles. He returned the picks to Marie with a triumphant look and she huffed dismissively in return.
"Now if you ladies would kindly turn your backs for a second I can return myself to my original bulk." He did indeed look thinner than he usually did and Marie filed that information away for future use. Cloners were rare and not much was known about them and while she wasn't about to give up her friends secrets Marie was well aware that knowledge is power.
Marie went to keep Miss Sarah company by the door while Sparky did his thing, there was a sound like a stone landing in mud followed by a sharply drawn in breath before the red headed thief joined them.
"All done, now... I believe we have a rogue scientist to catch?"
"Indeed we do. Did you get a feel of this place when they brought you in?"
"Just the bottom decks unfortunately and the most interesting thing down here, besides me then, is the lab in the bow. Seems big and well guarded. Entrance is up one deck I think."
"Excellent. Let's move."