Goliath

THIRTY-NINE

The walker was still half a mile from shore, but already its topside was cresting the surface. Water sluiced across its decks, swirling black with brine and seaweed. But beneath the ocean’s detritus, wet metal gleamed. With a roar of its engines, the machine’s kraken-fighting claws reared above the waves.

Deryn raised the field glasses to scan the deck for gun mounts.

“Doesn’t look damaged at all,” Dr. Busk was saying to the captain. “It must be designed for tremendous pressures.”

The first officer snorted. “A direct hit should make it a bit less waterproof.”

“Best to blow its legs off.” Captain Hobbes lowered his field glasses. “Let’s leave the Americans something menacing for tomorrow’s papers, eh?”

A bit of laughter went about the bridge, but Deryn’s mouth was dry. Tesla’s tower was already visible in the distance, lights shining in every window. The great barking fool of an inventor hadn’t evacuated, after all.

“Alek’s still there, isn’t he?”

“Our young prince would hardly leave an ally behind.” Dr. Barlow stared out at Goliath and sighed. “I’d hoped that Mr. Tesla would not stoop to bravery.”

“It’ll be all right, ma’am,” Deryn said, trying to keep her voice firm. “At least that walker hasn’t any big guns.”

The entire topside of the machine had cleared the surface now, and Deryn could see only a three-and-a-half-inch cannon, like the deck armament of a U-boat. The first crewmen were coming out of the hatches now, working to unplug the seals that kept the barrel waterproof.

“That’s as we expected,” the lady boffin said. “The Germans mean to tear down the tower with their krakenfighting arms. Rather brutish of them.”

“Aye, but it worked for us in Istanbul,” Deryn said.

The captain had spotted the deck gun too. “A bit more altitude, Pilot. Ready in the bomb bay.”

The Leviathan was almost on top of the enemy now; Deryn could feel the walker’s great Clanker engines rumbling through her boots. The smokestacks had popped their water seals, and the machine was roaring at full power.

But there was something shiny in the surf, halfway between the shore and the walker. She raised her field glasses again.

It looked like a fleet of wee metal boats, each only a few feet long. Antennae whipped back and forth on their decks as the ripples from the emerging walker reached them. The boats were heading straight toward the German craft.

“Do you see those, ma’am?”

Dr. Barlow squinted into the darkness, then nodded. “Ah, yes. Mr. Tesla’s remote controlled boats. He’s been trying to sell them to the Royal Navy for years. How pleased he must be to finally make use of them.”

As the first of the boats disappeared beneath the walker, light flared out across the water, and a jet of flame curled up around the metal. A few crewmen on the top deck cowered, but the machine hardly paused in its march toward the shore.

“A bit disappointing,” the lady boffin said.

“A few sticks of dynamite and some kerosene, I reckon.” Deryn frowned. “Did Mr. Tesla think he’d be fighting wooden ships?”

Dr. Barlow gave a shrug. “He never was one for chemistry.”

“Not to worry,” the captain said. “We’ll show him how it’s done. Starboard engine to half. Bomb bay, release when ready!”

Deryn stepped closer to the window, leaning out to see beneath the ship.

The water-walker’s left foreleg was just stepping onto the beach when the shiver went through the deck. Deryn’s knee twinged, and she held her breath until the bomb struck home.

It fell between the walker’s two right legs, landing in a few yards of water. A dark column of sand shot into the air, fringed with silvery moonlit spray. Tesla’s boats were tossed aside, bursting into flames that spilled across the surface of the sound. The Clanker machine was thrown sideways by the blast, almost tipping over. But finally it crashed back down, its right legs twisting and splitting.

The shock wave reached the Leviathan then, a great shudder traveling through the ship, the windows of the bridge rattling like teacups. Deryn kept her eyes trained on the walker. It was still trying to move, but its two working legs could only drag it a few yards with every step.

“Please give the bomb bay my compliments,” Captain Hobbes said. “They’ve left her quite in one piece.”

“What about her deck gun, sir?” the first officer asked.

“Keep an eye on it. If any more crewmen stick their heads out, we’ll introduce them to our fléchette bats.”

More orders were called, and a searchlight lanced out across the darkness. The burned and battered hulk of the walker suddenly shone brightly.

Deryn’s eye caught a sparkle in the distance beyond. The central tower of Goliath was still dark, but the four smaller structures around it were starting to glow.

“Dr. Barlow?” she said. “I think Tesla’s contraption is charging up.”

“He means to complete his test?” The lady boffin tutted. “Captain, perhaps we should give Mr. Tesla some room. Even a test firing could prove unpleasant up here.”

“Indeed, Doctor. Engines at one-half reverse.”

The Leviathan hesitated for a moment in the air, then Deryn felt the gentle tug of the ship sliding backward. The black water of Long Island Sound pulled into view, and the tableau of the damaged walker and the sparkling towers spread out before them.

“Sir!” the pilot called. “There’s another exhaust trail!”

The officers crowded the windows, and Deryn took a step forward. Something metal was breaking the surface near the shore.

It was a smaller walker, its four legs thrashing in the dark water of the sound, heading toward the beach.

“One of the escorts?” The captain shook his head. “But where’s it been hiding?”

“It must have shut down after our attack,” Dr. Barlow said. “Just long enough for us to follow the big one away. Or it may have ridden on the larger walker’s back, mingling their exhaust streams.”

“Who cares!” Deryn cried. “We need to stop that barking thing!”

“Well put, Mr. Sharp,” the captain said. “Go to full-ahead.”

A moment later the roar of engines rumbled through the bridge, and the Leviathan was moving forward again.

But the small walker had already made its way onto land. It was scrambling quickly through the trees, headed straight for the towers half a mile away. The machine hardly seemed large enough to tear Goliath apart, but it could certainly make a mess of things.

Suddenly a burst of sparks and flame ignited on the walker’s back, arcing across the darkness. An explosion thudded in the distance.

“It’s got a deck gun!” the first officer announced. “Captain?”

“Fléchette bats,” came the answer. “We’ll sweep them off the topside!”

Deryn’s fingers curled into two fists. The airship was gaining on the walker, and the searchlights swung out to find it in the darkness. She heard the pop of an air gun overhead, and saw the first cloud of fléchette bats streaking away.

But as her eyes drifted past the German walker, Deryn’s breath caught.

The outer towers of Mr. Tesla’s weapon were glowing brighter now, covered with nervous snakes made of fire and lightning. The tall central tower, Goliath itself, had begun to softly glow in the darkness, like the envelope of a hot-air balloon with its burner turned to full.

Deryn tasted acid in the back of her throat, and felt the awful, paralyzing fear of her nightmares. She remembered how the Goeben’s Tesla cannon had almost burned them all to a cinder. But Goliath was much more powerful, mighty enough to set the sky aflame thousands of miles away.

And the Leviathan was headed straight for it.