“Lady?” The Geisterdamen roused herself and smiled out from under the bruises. “I knew you would return!”
Lucrezia frowned. “You look terrible. I doubt you can run—” she examined the staple driven into the stone wall[73], “—even if I could release you.”
A pensive look stole over Vrin’s face. “Lady, please—”
“I’m sorry, but I simply can’t leave you here for dear Klaus to interrogate.” She stepped close and fixed the trapped woman with her full gaze. “Vrin—DIE.”
The chained woman jerked and fell back, and with a look of agonized betrayal frozen upon her face, began choking and gasping as she thrashed upon the ground.
A pair of Wulfenbach troops pounded around the corner, saw Lucrezia, and raised their rifles.
She looked over her shoulder as she took off. “You wouldn’t dare—”
Two bullets whipped past. One perforating her sleeve, the other clipping a few strands of hair. “Stop!” she screamed, “I surrender!”
She turned, hands raised, and saw the two soldiers taking aim at her heart. “Good.” The left one said. “That’ll make you easier to hit.”
The unfairness of this statement so surprised her, that a Jägermonster dropping from above and slamming the soldiers’ guns from their hands with a gigantic halberd seemed almost anti-climactic.
In seconds, the two soldiers were overwhelmed by a small crowd of people that included two more Jägers, a woman Lucrezia was able to identify as a Skifandrian, and a tall, good-looking fellow with a great deal of well-placed muscles.
They must be friends of my daughter, she realized. They should be easy to fool.
“You okay?” The voice was a bit odd, which was only fair, as upon turning, Lucrezia saw that it came from a white cat in a uniform.
To her embarrassment, she shrieked in surprise. This caused the cat to leap in terror to the top of the tallest thing in the vicinity, which at the moment, was Lucrezia.
There followed a most undignified display of mutual screaming and thrashing that left the two even more entangled than when they’d started.
“What’s the matter with you?” The cat demanded, “You almost scared me to death!”
The Skifandrian looked at her with narrowed eyes, “Are you all right?”
Lucrezia realized that subterfuge was worse than useless, and went straight to bewilderment. She’d always been good at that one. “Actually, I’m not sure. I think I’ve been drugged. I don’t...” she took a deep breath. “Do I know you people?”
They all looked at each other. Apparently her being drugged wasn’t totally unexpected. The tall man stepped forward. “I’m Lars. I’m... we’re all your friends. We’re here to rescue you.”
Lucrezia looked up at the earnest young man and had to restrain herself from running her hands over him. From the look on his face, if her daughter hadn’t done so already, then she had missed an obvious opportunity. “What a shame I don’t remember you,” she said softly.
The startled look on his face told her to dial it down a bit. However it had been a pleasantly startled look. Yes, there was fun to be had here when things had settled down a bit.
“So... Lars... what now?”
Lars glanced up at the hovering airships. “First? We get out of Sturmhalten.”
The cat visibly drooped. “The sewers again.”
“Hy go find us a vay in,” Ognian volunteered, and shambled off.
Lars continued. “I’m afraid so. After that? I guess we get you to Mechanicsburg. It’s only about three days away from here by horse if we ride steady.”
Lucrezia froze. “Mechanicsburg?”
Lars looked at her. “Well, yes, of course.” He took her shoulders. “We know you’re a Heterodyne. We’ll do whatever we—”
“NO!” Lucrezia pulled away from him. “I don’t want to go there!” There were too many things that could hurt her there. “I can’t!”
The Jägers stirred. “Iz best place for hyu. Keep hyu safe—”
“No! I won’t go there!”
Lars looked at her helplessly. “But... but where will we go?”
Lucrezia desperately tried to think—
“ENGLAND!”
The firm voice came from above. They all stared upwards at the tall man in flying leathers who leapt down from the ledge overhead. He stood before Lucrezia and formally bowed. He appeared to have a large bruise upon his forehead.
“I am Ardsley Wooster, of Her Majesty’s Secret Service. The Lady Heterodyne should remember me.”
He glanced at Agatha and was perplexed to see the look of bewilderment upon her face.
Maxim stepped forward. “Right now she dun remember nobody, Brit.”
Zeetha nodded, “She’s been drugged.”
“It’s true.” Krosp stared up at Ardsley. “She smells like a chemical lab. Trust me.” He paused, “But I remember you from Castle Wulfenbach, you were pretending to be Gilgamesh Wulfenbach’s valet.”
“That was my cover.” He studied Krosp. “I’m afraid I don’t remember you.”
Krosp smiled. “I’m sure most people consider you a pretty good spy, but they probably couldn’t find the stuff you kept hidden in the linen closet air vent.”
Wooster stared down at him and then nodded. “Lady Heterodyne, you are in grave danger here. I am empowered to extend an invitation to you to seek sanctuary in England, as an honored guest of Her Majesty. I have a flying machine at my disposal. It is parked back near your circus, so we must hurry.”
Krosp frowned. “What guarantees do we have—”
“I accept!” Lucrezia declared.
A sharp whistle broke into the conversation. Ognian waved at them from around a corner. “Lezz go, keeds! Qvickly! Dere’s soldiers all over der plaze!”
Shortly thereafter, they were once again clambering through the fetid pipes under the town.
Krosp scooted up to Lucrezia. “Agatha, are you sure about going to England?”
Lucrezia grinned. “Oh, yes! It’s perfect! As long as Albia lives, England is closed to Klaus.” A thought struck her. “Unless... Mr. Wooster, Albia does still rule, yes?”
The question caused Ardsley to stumble and he stared at Agatha with frank amazement upon his face. “Good heavens, yes. Why in the world would you think otherwise?”
This was a reasonable question, as Albia had been the reigning queen for a very long time[74].
“I... I’ve been out of touch,” Lucrezia said defensively, “Anything can happen.”
Wooster smiled and turned to continue. “Not in England, Miss. Her Majesty wouldn’t permit it.”
They turned a corner and daylight could be seen in the distance. They quickened their pace at the sight and soon encountered a rusty stormgrate. A shattered lock showed that the Jägers had preceded them, and they emerged, blinking, onto a streambed cluttered with debris. They waded ashore as Maxim and Zeetha reappeared from over a small hill.
“Hokay! Der circus is parked in the caravan staging area, and hy dun see any Vulfenbach troops.”
Zeetha nodded. “They’ve got all the wagons hitched up, so it looks like they’re getting ready to move out.”
Krosp frowned. “No troops at all?”
“That’s a stroke of luck,” Lars said.
“I suspect that Sturmhalten is putting up more resistance than the Baron expected,” Wooster said thoughtfully. “The whole giant lady thing, you know.”
Krosp nodded. “That won’t last though. The Baron’s strength comes from paying attention to the details. We’ve got to get out before he gets here.”
73
At this time, it was the practice of Wulfenbach forces during an invasion to shackle prisoners and then drive a large metal staple into a nearby wall, so they could be collected later. A territory as large as the Empire was always looking for trained soldiers, and very few of rank and file were themselves driven by ideological ideals. Usually they were conscripts, draftees, mercenaries or such, and thus, when offered the choice of being cut loose with one month’s pay or being allowed to join the well-fed, well-paid and well-dressed armies of the Pax Transylvania, many of them joined up without hesitation.