She smiled in a way he had not seen before. “You know what the right thing means, now?”
“Yes. I will help you do the right thing. But do not forget that there are limits to my powers,” Alain added.
“I know. All you can do is walk through walls and bend light and stuff,” Mari replied in her sarcasm voice, still smiling at him. “Listen,” she said, earnest again, “I’ve been thinking. We survived the attack on the caravan. That took both of us, working together. Then we got out of the city hall in Ringhmon together. Separately, we couldn’t have done that. But together our skills add up to something more than just a sum. I really think that. Because Mages and Mechanics don’t work together, do they? Never. Something designed to handle a Mage isn’t very good at handling a Mechanic, and something a Mechanic can't handle a Mage can . You and I work together, so we can handle anything that comes up.”
He nodded to her. “Yes. Mages and Mechanics working together. You have already done this.”
“We’ve both done it.” Mari grinned and pumped her fist in triumph at Alain’s agreement. Turning back to the lock, she worked again for a few moments until a soft click announced her success. Before opening the door, Mari knelt by her bag, putting on the holster which held her weapon, then her Mechanics jacket over that. “Do you want to get into Mage gear?”
“My robes? No. If we are seen, if they do not already know who you are, it will be better if no one knows a Mage and a Mechanic are side by side.”
“Good point.” Taking the weapon in one hand and leaving her empty bag on the ground, Mari eased the door open slowly, sliding in as soon as the gap was large enough.
Alain slipped in behind Mari, who carefully closed the door behind them. They were in a narrow open lane running next to the wall, facing a tall barrier of wooden crates in various states of dilapidation. Mari listened intently, then gestured to Alain, leading him to the right.
The crates proved to be stacked into walls two crates deep, with passageways of varying widths running between them in a mazelike arrangement. The height of the crate stacks also varied but was generally well above their heads, blocking off sight. Higher up, the flickering light of oil lamps reflected off of a lofty ceiling. Alain could hear voices and the occasional sounds of large objects being moved. Mari, using those noises to orient herself, cautiously led the way through the maze.
They were close to the sounds when Mari paused and went to one knee, examining something resting on a crate. The object was metal and looked to Alain like a Mechanic device. “No makers’ marks,” she whispered. “No workshop codes. My Guild didn’t construct this.”
“Then you have found what you sought?”
“A small part of it,” Mari said.
She headed closer to the sounds while Alain looked around, seeking any trace of warning from his foresight or other senses.
Finally they reached what must be the last wall of crates. Mari pointed upward, and they carefully climbed the wooden crates, trying not to make a sound. Reaching the top, Alain crawled with Mari along the top of the crates until they could see the rest of the warehouse.
A large area opened up ahead, leading to a dock with a small wooden pier to which a barge was tied up., The big warehouse doors leading out to the open water were still sealed. On the opposite side of the open area was what must be the main door of the warehouse, providing access to one of the roads on the landward side. Within the open area and on the barge, a group of commons, men and women, were working. The sides of the structure on top of the barge had been taken down so that what was within it could be seen.
Mari pointed to one object after another, murmuring just loudly enough for Alain to hear. “Steam boiler. Collapsible funnel for the steam boiler, so they could raise it when needed and lower it the rest of the time and no one could see it. Winches powered by the steam. I wonder if it also ties in to a propulsion screw beneath the barge? That would really help them move around. What do you think?”
“I think I have understood about one word in five of what you are saying,” Alain replied.
She grinned, then pointed again. “See those iron-tipped timbers? Braces. That’s what made those marks on the cliff face and provided stand-off so the barge didn’t get caught in the collapse of the rail trestle. And look at those. Hooks shaped like really big claws on the end of the cables that the winches pull in. We’ve found our dragons, Alain. Those people down there are working on it, but they’re not wearing Mechanics Guild jackets. We’ve found our Dark Mechanics.” She pointed to one side, where a big man stood. “Doesn’t he look familiar?”
“It is the same one who tried to kidnap you earlier,” Alain agreed. “The one I knocked unconscious.” Her certainty about what they were seeing impressed him, even though he could not grasp her descriptions of what they had found. But the objects in the barge were definitely Mechanic work. Alain took in the many Dark Mechanics below, not liking the odds if they were discovered. “Should we go?”
Mari chewed her lip, plainly reluctant. “I’ll have to convince a bunch of other Mechanics to come here, but if I can get even one or two others to see this, it should be the lever I need. It’s the best I’ll get unless we steal that barge.”
“You wish to steal the barge?” Alain asked, trying to think up a plan that might succeed in doing that.
“No. I’m not that crazy,” Mari said. “But if there was any way to do that it sure would—”
Both of them froze as someone banged loudly on the main entrance to the warehouse. The commons in the warehouse stopped their work, staring silently toward the door, then all of them produced weapons of various kinds. A woman who seemed to be in charge beckoned to two others who had grabbed crossbows, then walked to the door, a knife at ready.
Alain could not see the woman’s reaction when she peered through the door’s security peephole, but he did not have to. “There is a Dark Mage there. At least one,” he murmured to Mari.
Mari frowned at him. “The Dark Mechanics are working with Dark Mages?”
“I doubt that. Even Dark Mages are Mages. They disregard Mechanics, considering them beneath notice.”
Anything else Mari might have planned on saying was cut short as the leader of the Dark Mechanics opened the door. Alain could just make out a lean, middle aged man with a hawk nose. He did not wear Mage robes, but the power that hung around him announced his status clearly to another Mage. “A strange place to find dragons,” the Dark Mage announced impassively.
The Dark Mechanic leader shifted her hold on her knife so it was ready to stab. “You’ve got a very short time to convince me not to kill you.”
The Dark Mage shook his head. “My comrades would take that poorly, and you do not want that. We hold this place in the palms of our hands. Should we choose to close our hands, you will all die and lose all that is here.” The emotionless monotony of his voice was in strange contrast to the threatening words.
“You’re a Mage,” the Dark Mechanic spat.
“That should not bother you. You already have a Mage here.”
Alain saw all of the Dark Mechanics start with surprise. His efforts to hide his presence from other Mages clearly had not been effective enough. “The Dark Mages sensed me,” he breathed to Mari. “They have been following me. That is how they found this place. They may have been watching us for some time.”
“Great,” Mari muttered back. “We’ve been chasing Dark Mechanics, and Dark Mechanics and Dark Mages have been chasing us. Do they know exactly where you are in here? Is this anything like the thread?”
“No, it is very different. They can sense my general location, but that cannot lead them directly to me. They know that I am inside the building. If I use a spell, they will be able to find me.”