One of the Baroness’s mechanized arms rotated ninety degrees behind her seemingly of its volition. Something rattled and clicked, and it vomited a long snakelike appendage from its forearm. Her metal fingers grasped the cable and whipped it toward Malcolm.
He realized too late he was within striking range. The whip wrapped around his chest, pinning his arms against his torso. He tried to raise his Lancasters toward her, but a current of energy surged through the metal whip, locking his muscles and even clamping his jaw shut. The robot arm yanked and he toppled over like a dead tree. The whip began to retract, dragging him closer to the Baroness. He lost his grip on the pistols. He couldn’t move his head and his only view was the stars etched on the volcanic ceiling. He heard Baroness Conrad yelling something to Penny. He feared he had stumbled into a stupid trap, and he prayed Penny wouldn’t do something foolish to rescue him.
A strange shape moved into Malcolm’s line of sight. To his shock, he realized it was Imogen. Her skin showed a milky white against the dark stone. She had torn her dress short so it wouldn’t encumber her legs. Her shoes were off and her wide-splayed toes and fingers clutched the rippled surface of the ceiling. She scuttled over the Baroness and dropped like a spider on top of her.
Startled, the Baroness reared back, unsure what had attacked her. Penny burst from cover and raced forward. Malcolm could do nothing more than gape like a fish on a hook. Hogarth ran up to free him, but the moment the manservant’s hands touched the coils, he too locked rigid.
Jane appeared and grabbed Hogarth. The current crawled over her as well, but had no effect. She pulled the big man away, breaking his grip. As soon as Hogarth’s hands were released, he gasped and fell backward. The manservant lumbered to his feet, shaking off the effects like a big bear, and rounded on the Baroness. He braced his feet and locked one of her arms in a wrestling hold. Jane touched the whip and a visible bolt of light sped back up the snake into the mechanical arm, ending in an explosive shower of sparks. Malcolm could move once again although he was stiff like an old man as he tried to lurch to his feet.
Imogen was still hanging on to the Baroness’s head, dodging wild blows from mechanical arms. Her quills pinged off armor, but she spotted bare skin through a seam at the back of the Baroness’s neck. She jammed her forearm against the gap in the armor and stabbed several quills into flesh.
Penny had positioned herself behind the villain’s back, nearly lost in the cloud of steam escaping from the damaged armor. She jammed her pliers into the circuitry built into the Baroness’s back, her hands moving quickly and deliberately. She knew exactly what she was doing. Even though the Baroness’s work was intricate in construction, it was also clear in design and function.
Malcolm pulled his long blade from his coat as he staggered up to the Baroness. He jammed the blade between armor plates on her side and shoved it in as hard as he could, twisting it back and forth to widen the gap. It didn’t go in nearly far enough to kill, but he took great pleasure in the scream of pain. The Baroness grabbed his arms. Her metal fingers dug deep into his all-too-tender flesh. She started pulling him apart. His scream matched her own.
There was another loud snap and a harsh tearing sound of metal against metal. Penny fell back with a glowing piece of metal in her pliers. The Baroness shuddered. Her remaining limbs flailed as she lost control of them with a cry of fear and despair. She thrashed with unrestrained mechanical power and her armor threw off a massive electrical pulse that blasted her attackers aside. The Baroness screamed with pain as her own mechanical body revolted against her. She ran toward the open door, slamming against the jamb, losing her helmet. With eyes clear, the Baroness fled.
“She’s getting away,” Penny shouted, already legging it after the escaping Baroness.
“What did you do to her?” Malcolm asked breathlessly as he retrieved his pistols. The fight had taken more out of him than he cared to admit.
“She had a little siphon crystal like the altar and that goon Simon mentioned from India. So I took it; she won’t be repairing herself. And I made some dirty adjustments to her aether motor.”
They ran out of the stifling temple into the hurricane of heat that was London. They both stopped in their tracks. The city around them was ablaze. Smoke obscured much of the familiar cityscape, which was jagged and broken. Streams of lava slid along paving stones, burning swathes in the earth. Dead bodies littered the ground. The temple itself was stable, but when they reeled dumbstruck off the steps, they felt the ground shaking. Gaios was ripping the city to pieces.
Penny managed to overcome her shock and climbed on a pile of bricks. “There!”