“I should have known he’d pull something like that,” he muttered. He glanced at Dr. Merrliwee, the head physician on board the Castle. “And now?”
“Dr. Sun has placed him in an armored, high-pressure healing engine.”
Boris winced. Healing engines were effective, but that efficiency came at a painful price. He tried to imagine what a full-body engine would feel like, and then wished he hadn’t. He took a deep breath.
“It’s what should have been done to begin with,” he conceded. “But it’s dangerous and now he’ll be incommunicado.”
The thought flashed through Boris’ mind, I’ll have to run his адский Empire for him—again.88
Out of the crowd of assorted military officers that swarmed around Boris, the Master of the Ætheric Vapor Squad cleared his throat. His voice rang hollowly from within his refrigerated suit. “Sir, the deadline for the destruction of Castle Heterodyne is approaching…”
Boris glared at him. “Is Master Gilgamesh still in there?”
The Master’s eyes could be seen to roll. “…Yes.”
“Then you will hold off! I will not be the one who kills the Baron’s heir! Next?”
A Captain dressed in the white leather outfit of the Empire’s Intelligence Offices stepped up. “We’re getting reports of rioting all across the Empire.” She picked up a pointer and strode over to a hanging map of Europa. She flicked the pointer across the map, tapping delicately several times, and each place it touched, a soft red light glowed. “These areas are reporting outright revolts.”
Boris frowned. “I’d expect that, what with the news about the Baron being in the hospital. But…”
The Intelligence Officer nodded. “Yes. But this is…too quick. Too coordinated.” She slapped the pointer across her palm. “We’re looking into it.”
Boris nodded.
There was a sudden disruption at the doorway, and a crowd cleared to allow a Jägermonster officer to saunter in. “Hey dere, Meester Boris bug man,” he called out cheerfully.
“Oh, this is all I need,” Boris said under his breath. He paused. “Wait a minute…” He began flipping through the papers before him. “What are you even doing here? All of the Jägers are supposed to be up North.”
The Jäger carefully collected and straightened a stack of paperwork, then sat on it. “Heh. Yez, vell, sveethot, ve gots a message for hyu.” He smiled at Boris. “Ve quit.”
Agatha tightened the last connection and threw a switch. There was a brief shower of sparks, and the bank of machinery before her shuddered back to life as, deep within, tubes began to glow. She nodded in satisfaction, leaned back on her heels, and looked up. “How are Gil and Tarvek doing?” she called out.
“Not well at all, my lady.” Violetta sounded worried. Agatha hurried over to where both men lay stretched out upon the floor, their skins a ruddy reddish orange. “They just collapsed,” Violetta said, “and their fevers have gone up. It’s really bad!”
Fraulein Snaug waved a wrench to catch Agatha’s attention. “But they did keep going until they finished their work,” she said approvingly.
Worried as she was, Agatha had to admire the woman’s grasp of priorities.
“That’s good, I suppose.” Agatha raised her voice. “Herr von Zinzer? Do you see anything?”
Von Zinzer gripped his broom handle a bit more tightly. He sat perched upon the edge of the hole in the floor, watching. “Whatever is down there is keeping quiet now. I heard some clanking and saw a big green flash of light about an hour ago. Nothing since then.” He peered back down. “Still, I really think we should hurry, you know?”
Agatha knew. Suddenly, there was a shout of triumph. Professor Mezzasalma clattered over, a pleased look on his face. “I have successfully finished splicing the power connectors!” he announced. “I predict that hardly any of them will explode!”
Agatha nodded. “I’ll take that. Violetta, wind up the dynamos.” She turned back. “Professor, you haul Gil and Tarvek into place, and Snaug, you help me get myself connected to the system.” A sudden wave of dizziness caused her to sway and her skin shifted towards a deeper shade of purple. Mezzasalma winced and stepped forward in concern. Agatha held up a preemptory hand. “I’ll make it, let’s get this done!”
Agatha removed her outer garments and Snaug began to buckle her into a device-encrusted harness. “Are you sure about this, my lady? You’re taking such a terrible risk.” She paused as she tightened a strap and meticulously set the buckle. “I mean, being an assistant, I’m kind of used to it being me who gets hooked up to things…”
Agatha adjusted herself to ease a bit of pinching. “I don’t see that I have much choice,” she said frankly. She glanced over to the array where, with a casual display of strength, Professor Mezzasalma was tossing Tarvek onto a metal slab. Tarvek’s head bounced slightly as he landed, and Agatha winced. “Besides, the one taking the biggest risk is Gil. He wasn’t even infected when we started this.”
Snaug nodded glumly. “True, but now…well, he’s so sick…Do you think he’ll be strong enough to pull you both through full resurrections?”
Agatha adjusted her shoulder straps. “I really don’t know,” she finally admitted.
Behind her, Professor Mezzasalma cleared his throat. “Prince Wulfenbach and Prince Sturmvarous are in position. The connections are made and will probably hold. All we are waiting for is you, my lady.” He glanced in her direction, blushed, and looked away. “Are you all right?”
Agatha glanced down and saw her skin color shift to a bright cyan. “Well, no, Professor, I’m not.”
Mezzasalma looked flustered. “Yes, of course…I knew that…”
Fraulein Snaug slid her wrench back into one of her belt loops. “I’m finished,” she announced. “I’m hooking you into the circuit—” She flipped a switch. “Now.”
Suddenly, Agatha pitched forward. “They’re sicker than I thought,” she groaned. With effort, she straightened up. “We’ll start with Tarvek,” she muttered.
Snaug looked alarmed. “Weren’t we going to do you all at the same time?”
Agatha shook her head. “At this point both Gil and Tarvek are too worn out. The si vales valeo procedure hasn’t got a chance of working without someone stronger in the donor position.” Agatha noticed that her hand was trembling and dropped it to the console. “At the moment, the strongest person is me.”
“But…” Snaug frowned, “if you use all your energy on them, then won’t you all be drained when it’s time to revive you? It’s just, well, I’m as big a fan of perpetual motion machines as the next girl, but they hardly ever work.”
“Well spotted. Yes. It’s possible there could be some problems at that point, but I’ve got a few things set up that will fix that.” She poked at her devices and fiddled with a dial. “Probably.”
Snaug frowned. “Oh, that fills me with confidence.”
Agatha didn’t bother to argue further. “To your station, Snaug,” she ordered.
“Yes, mistress,” Snaug moved to her place.
Agatha looked around, her gaze lingering first on Gil, then on Tarvek. They lay still, strapped in their arrays on the slabs that flanked her, and took a final deep breath. They were all as ready as they were going to get. “Good luck, you two,” she whispered. She then wheeled about and unhesitatingly threw a large lever. “First switch!” she called.
There was a crackle of electricity and Tarvek shrieked and strained against his restraints.
Violetta went pale. “He…he sounds like he’s dying!”
Agatha rolled her eyes. “Well of course he is. That was the point.” She sat herself down in an elaborately constructed chair. “Now come on, it’s time to get me strapped in.” Violetta tore her eyes from Tarvek’s thrashing form and fumbled at the first of a series of straps and buckles. “Make sure those are really secure,” Agatha admonished.