“Unless the reverberations in the rock cause the ceiling over that chamber to collapse,” Sicarius said.
“If it held off that bombardment, maybe it’s sturdy enough to survive our little explosion,” Amaranthe said.
“ Maybe?” Maldynado asked.
“Does anyone have a pen and paper?” Sicarius asked.
Sespian unbuttoned a pocket and pulled out a small, leather-bound notebook with a pen clipped to the spine. He flipped past a few pages with sketches on them-Amaranthe was glad he still made time to pursue that passion, if only in hurried spare moments-and opened the book to a blank page before handing it to Sicarius.
Sicarius stalked to the controls and wrote down a few numbers.
“What’s he doing?” Yara asked.
“Calculating the likelihood that the boss has gone insane?” Maldynado suggested.
Sicarius bent his head over the notebook. From what Amaranthe could see, he was solving equations, and she figured she should be considerate and leave him alone to finish. She managed to do that for almost an entire minute until her curiosity undermined her power for consideration. She strolled over, hands clasped behind her back.
He gave her a dark look and she froze. He rarely gave her his icy stare any more, and she’d forgotten how chilling it was.
“You don’t approve of my idea?” Amaranthe asked.
Sicarius’s gaze flickered toward Sespian before settling onto the paper again. Ah, Sespian’s presence changed his willingness to take risks. Foolhardy ones anyway.
Sicarius finished writing and stared hard at the paper.
“Some sort of blast wave calculations?” Amaranthe guessed. “What’s your conclusion?”
“That your idea might work to free the front of the train.”
“That’s good, isn’t it?”
“There’s no guarantee that the chamber you want to hide in won’t collapse or that we won’t simply end up trapped back there. New detritus might block the return route.”
“Any way to figure out the odds of that nook collapsing?” Sespian asked.
“Not when we have no way to determine how much it was damaged in the previous cave-in,” Sicarius said.
It’d be safer to dig out, Basilard signed.
“We could cause more rock to fall simply by moving rocks aside,” Amaranthe said. “And that might squish everyone too.”
“It would take a week to dig out by hand,” Sespian said. “I… don’t have a week. If you hadn’t shown up when you did, I was going to try and escape at Sunders City. I didn’t have much hope of it working, but I figured I had to try. I need to get there sooner rather than later.”
“If you’re crushed by rock, you won’t get there either way,” Sicarius told him.
“All right,” Amaranthe said, “we’ll vote. Who wants to dig out and who wants to risk an explosion?”
“Vote?” Sespian asked.
“He’s the emperor,” Yara pointed out. “Shouldn’t he be making the decisions?”
About our lives? Basilard frowned. He’s not my emperor. And he’s eighteen.
“Nineteen,” Amaranthe said.
Sespian’s eyes narrowed. “What did he say?”
“You’re very wise for such a young man,” Amaranthe said.
Now Basilard’s eyes narrowed.
“Vote time,” Amaranthe said. “Who wants to dig out?”
Yara, Basilard, and Sicarius lifted hands.
“And who wants to blow this engine up, and see if we can be out by dawn?”
Amaranthe and Sespian raised their hands. Maldynado sighed deeply, then raised his as well.
“Are you on our side because you have faith in me,” Amaranthe asked him, “or because you don’t want to dig?”
“Oh, I have faith in you,” Maldynado said, “ and I don’t want to dig. My main reason for hesitating was that I fear this story might get twisted around at some future date, and I’ll be blamed for blowing up the train.”
“Why would you get blamed?”
“Nobody ever blames the woman for blowing things up, such as garbage vehicles, even when the explosions clearly happened as a result of her crazy schemes.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Amaranthe smiled until she considered the split votes. She might be the leader of the team, but there was so much of a risk of failure-of death — that she didn’t feel like she could order them into this. Even if she tried it, she might bump up against the boundaries of her leadership. If Sicarius didn’t agree to blow up the locomotive, nobody there would be able to go through him to do it.
“If I issue an imperial mandate that says we will blow up the engine,” Sespian said, “would that affect any of your votes?”
Amaranthe met Sicarius’s eyes. If he wanted to win favor with Sespian, this might be a good opportunity for him to switch sides and join him. Sicarius stared mulishly back at her. It was Yara who sighed and lowered her hand.
“Four to two,” Sespian told Amaranthe. “Will that do it?”
Basilard caught Sicarius’s eye and signed, Will it be at all comforting to know we were right as we lie dying?
If we’re right, our deaths will be too swift for thoughts, Sicarius signed back.
“I can tell I need to learn this language,” Sespian said.
“Basilard will be happy to teach you.” Amaranthe patted him on the back.
Basilard didn’t quite glare at her, but she could tell he wasn’t interested in “bonding” just then. She gave him a smile anyway. Someone had to be encouraging, after all.
“Who wants to handle the blowing up of the train?” Amaranthe asked. “I’ll stay, but I wouldn’t mind some manly strength in case it’s needed. I assume the steam will need to build to the failure point, and there should be time for us to get back to join the others.”
“I’ll handle it,” Sicarius said.
The others grabbed their gear, filed out of the cab, and squeezed into the crevice winding back toward the chamber. Amaranthe picked up the coal shovel, intending to help Sicarius.
He took the tool from her and pointed for her to follow the others. “Go.”
“Sicarius…”
He turned his back to her, kneeling to rekindle the fire in the furnace. His displeasure made her doubt her decision. Maybe she should be listening to him. Maybe they should simply take their time and dig their way out. If the emperor and her team died in that tunnel, Forge would have its way, with no one to oppose the organization. Her contributions to the empire would be forgotten, she’d have no place in the history books, and Maldynado would never get a statue. Dying would be irritating on its own merits as well.
“Maybe you’re right,” Amaranthe said. “We should just work on digging out. If we’re here long enough, Books and Akstyr might find us.” If they hadn’t had a run-in with the enemy aircraft.
“It’s too late now,” Sicarius said, his back still to her. “This is what Sespian wants.”
Thanks to her. “I guess I shouldn’t have mentioned my idea.”
“No, you shouldn’t have.”
“Maybe I can make him decide he wants something else,” Amaranthe said.
Finally Sicarius stood and faced her. “Perhaps you could.”
“I will.” Amaranthe nodded and turned for the door.
She had her foot in the air and was about to hop down when Sicarius stopped her with a, “No.”
“No?” she asked.
“I wish to protect him.”
“Yes…”
Sicarius inhaled and exhaled slowly. “He would not appreciate it. He has a mission of his own that is his priority.”
A thread of guilt squirmed through Amaranthe’s belly-Sespian wouldn’t have a notion that it was possible to expedite their escape if she hadn’t brought up the idea. “I think you’re right,” was all she said.
“Go join the others.” Sicarius flipped a thumb toward the crevice.
Amaranthe thought of saying “Be careful,” but it seemed too little for the moment. She stepped back into the cab and wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug. He didn’t return the embrace, but at least he no longer seemed rigid and angry.
“Good luck,” she said, pulling back. “Remember, don’t do anything foolish up here to get yourself blown up. The plan is for you to run back and join us before the explosion. So you can get squished in the cave-in like the rest of us.”