Author's Notes:

Hello everyone, and sorry for the long hiatus. I'm naturally a slow updater, and ever since transferring I've been finding less quiet time to think and write. This will unfortunately be true for two of my other stories…

On the other hand, I never ever got how the message lizards worked in canon. Scott threw out a vague explanation concerning a scientist sorting them out, but if he's stuck in the bowels of the ship, he can't possibly know where to send the lizards to find the crewman they're supposed to find (not to mention most lizards don't have an origin or destination tag as claimed). I believe Scott himself does not know exactly how they work either, so I've scrapped them altogether, and replaced them with something else.

A special shout-out to Clevingerrr, whose kind words and helpful reviews have greatly encouraged me, each and every one. Thank you so much.

(This chapter contains excerpts from Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld, chapter 25 & 28.)

"Much appreciated," said the Austrian boy, Alek, as Dylan Sharp untied his hands.

"Don't mention it," replied the young airman. Then both of them turned expectantly to Dr. Barlow.

"Alek," said Dr. Barlow, "once again we come back to the question." She nodded at the ropes that had been bound to his wrists just a moment ago. "Freedom for the truth, remember. So please tell us, why are you here?"

"To help you," Alek said after a moment's consideration.

"With six medical satchels?"

"It wasn't well thought-out."

"Ah. A spur-of-the-moment decision."

"Yes."

"I see. So, what are you doing here in the mountains in the first place?"

"He says there's a village, and then he said that he and his family lives here," said Sharp. "I reckon it was total bollocks."

Alek gave him a glare.

"A village is unlikely," Kate said, gesturing at the shattered windows. "A glacier is hardly a habitable place."

"My sentiments concur," said Dr. Barlow. "So, your family. Do they know you're here?"

Alek sighed. "No, but they'll guess, soon enough. You don't have much time to let me go."

"Ah… time is of the essence. So your family lives nearby?"

The Austrian boy frowned.

"Who are your family if they have access to these?" Kate asked. Only now did she have a chance to examine the contents of the medical satchels, and was particularly surprised to find surgery-grade alcohol and stainless steel operating equipment. Not something you'd expect from a rag-tag band of mountain recluse.

"It doesn't matter who they are," said Alek.

"Yes it does," said Dr. Barlow. "Though I suppose what matters now is that they have food. Food enough, perhaps, to help our airship heal."

"If time is of the essence, we must find your family, and fast," said Kate.

"We could follow his tracks in the snow," suggested Sharp, smiling. "Maybe bring a present for his ma, so there are no hard feelings." Alek glared at him again.

"I was careful with my tracks," said the Austrian boy. "And if you do manage to find my family, you'll only get yourselves shot. They hate strangers."

"What unsociable people," Dr. Barlow mused. "And yet they hired English tutors of the highest caliber for you."

Alek growled and looked rather frustrated.

"You must mean a great deal to your family," Kate said. "Will they come for you? They cannot hope to fight our ship."

"They will come," said Alek, without hesitation. "Look, I came here to help. If it's food you want, perhaps I can bring some. But you must let me go, and I will try to sneak some back here each night. We can't let my family know."

Kate laughed, which seemed to offend the boy. "I'm sorry," she said, trying to be gentle. "This will not work, Alek. We will need much more food than you can carry. Tons; literally."

Alek's jaws dropped open. "There is nothing I can do if you require that much," he said finally.

"Unfortunately, that's not all we need," Kate said, stealing a glance at her culture dishes, most broken. She had modified the promethacytes enough for them to be able to survive outside the aerozoan's body, and to function with the dimmest of sunlight. Now, all but the most primitive of her samples had been destroyed, and nothing short of the concentrated noonday sun would start them up. "Tell me, does your family own machinery?"

"Pardon?"

"Machinery, especially lenses to focus sunlight, and parts for our engines. Oh, and pumps."

The two boys seemed confused, but Dr. Barlow knew what she was getting at.

"Dr. Cruse," she said, "we cannot risk implementing your system to the ship right now. It's not stable."

"Dire circumstances call for dire actions," Kate said. "If my system works, it can be a supplement. If our sustained damage is as severe as we think, we will be in more risk every hour we stay on this glacier. Our diminished flocks might not produce enough excreta in the little time that we have. Every bit of lifting power helps."

Dr. Barlow nodded slowly. "That I cannot argue with. Very well, you have a point." She turned towards the Austrian boy. "Alek? Is there any assistance you might be able to offer us?"

"Oh. I suppose you could say we own machinery, yes." He shook his head. "But my family will be disinclined to help."

"What if we paid them a visit under the flag of truce? With you?" Kate suggested.

Alek considered this, before nodding. "All right. But we don't have much time."

"Why? What could your family do against an entire airship when they get here?"

"I do not know," the boy said. "But I do not like to imagine it."

Kate raised an eyebrow. Did he actually believe that his family, whoever they were, had enough firepower to destroy the Leviathan? Even grounded, the ship still commanded its hawks and bats, and three strafing gliders were as yet strong enough to take to the air. She exchanged a glance with Dr. Barlow, who shrugged.

"Then we shall have to make preparations," the scientist said. "Mr. Sharp, were you ordered to bring Alek to us?"

"Aye. And then to the captain."

"No need for that now, I shall talk to him. And after that?"

"Er, I'd meant to go to the infirmary, ma'am." A grimace passed through the boy's face. "I have… I mean, Mr. Rigby…"

"Of course, you need to bring them the medicine. I almost forgot. I'll send a messenger for you there, regarding our next step."

"Oh. Right, ma'am. Aye. But what about Alek?"

Dr. Barlow gave a vague wave. "He can accompany you to wherever it is you are needed. If you are concerned, I can have Tazza keep watch over him."

"No!" said Alek, a little too quickly, and everyone looked at him. He blushed.

"Why not?" Sharp asked, narrowing his eyes. "Planning to run off?"

"Hmm. I should think not," said Dr. Barlow. She gave Alek a look. "Bella gerant alii?"

Let others wage war. It was a peculiar way to say 'we don't have to fight', and even more so because it was in Latin. Kate didn't know what Dr. Barlow was getting at, but to her surprise, the boy nodded.

"This isn't my war to wage," he said. "I promise to not escape on my own — it's too late for that anyway."

Dr. Barlow smiled. "I think we can trust Alek not to run amok, Mr. Sharp. He's a very well brought-up boy."

ooo

"You were testing him," Kate said. She and Dr. Barlow had their hands on the walls for support, and were treading carefully through a slanted hallway, heading towards the bridge. Tazza sniffed and snorted beside them, apparently unnerved by the sudden tilt in his world.

"Indeed," said Dr. Barlow. "I have certain suspicions that are becoming more and more plausible."

"Well, he knows Latin. I think the boy is from Austrian nobility, or at the least a military family."

"Very good. I've arrived at the same conclusion. But that's not all. Do you know where that saying came from?"

"What? Bella gerant alii? I thought you were just testing his upbringing."

"Yes, but I was fishing for something else as well. It is a fragment of a sentence: Bella gerant alii, tu felix Austria, nube."

Instantly, Kate understood. No wonder the saying sounded familiar.

"You think he's a Hapsburg."

Dr. Barlow nodded. "Judging from how fast he answered, I believe he is. Nonetheless, the Hapsburgs are the oldest noble House in Europa, and a sprawling family, as all ruling families are. Alek could merely be from a cadet branch."

Something in the woman's voice ticked inside Kate.

"You do not believe he's from a cadet branch… do you?"

"No," said Dr. Barlow.

They walked passed shattered windows and a deserted room. With the ship in such dire straits, all hands had been called to help with repairs on the beast itself, and much of the gondola lies empty. Tazza ventured his snout out the window, before whimpering into a retreat.

"Do you know what the Archduke looks like?" Dr. Barlow asked, suddenly, as they rounded a corner. "And his wife?"

Kate didn't need to ask which Archduke. "I've seen pictures, of course. Why do you ask?"

"Try to picture them," Dr. Barlow said, "and you'll see my suspicions."

Kate recalled the last newspaper she's read before departing, and the picture of the large mustached man in military uniform right under the headlines. It took a while to remember the features of something she's seen so long ago, but when she started examining the Archduke in her mind's eye, certain things in the man's forehead and cheekbones now seemed familiar, and the grim, regal way he held his chin now reminded her of someone. The richly clothed duchess beside him, austere yet pretty, shared with this same someone her gentle eyes and full-formed lips. Someone who had left with Sharp barely five minutes ago.

"It cannot be," she said softly.

"I thought so too, but the evidence is there. To add to it, the archduke also has a child, around this age."

"Is he a son?"

"I cannot recall," said Dr. Barlow, frustrated. "I remember reading a version of the Hapsburg genealogy some years ago, after it had just been updated — but I forgot the child's gender and name. The ones we keep at the Society is outdated by at least a decade, since nobody ever bothered to buy the new ones."

Kate tried to smooth her breathing. If this hypothesis were real, they had just stumbled upon a person who, in British hands, could very well change the course of the war.

"Okay. So let's assume Alek is indeed not just noble, but imperial. Why would he be here in Switzerland, of all places? Shouldn't he be under the protection of the Austrian government?"

"He is not imperial," Dr. Barlow said, surprised. "He — if Alek is truly the Archduke's son — cannot inherit, since his mother is not of high nobility."

"I thought the Archduke married a noblewoman?"

"Not noble enough. The Hapsburgs want all their marriages to be to the reigning or formerly reigning great families of Europa. Those Clankers have always been notoriously sticky about the purity of bloodlines."

"Oh. But hypothetically speaking, why would the son of the dead heir to Austria be wandering around a Swiss glacier?"

"Hiding," Dr. Barlow said quietly. "And not from us. Franz-Ferdinand has long been feuding with the Emperor, and in times like these, even allies may not appear as they seem." She sighed, and looked back at the way they came. "He is just so… young. To be honest, Kate: for his sake, I hope I am wrong."

Nothing more was said after that. Kate thought of the Austrian boy, and only now did she pick out the perpetual sadness in his gaze. She did not want to imagine what he was feeling, if he were truly who they'd guessed he was.

Presently they reached the bridge, where, as if to make up for the void that was the ship's hallways, officers and crew stormed in and out in a never-ending stream of reports and shouts. It felt almost surreal to have so much life after the silence, and for a moment, the wilderness beyond the cabin walls seemed to be kept at bay. Even Tazza perked up, his tail starting to wag more vigorously, his ears alert.

Dr. Barlow strode into the room without bothering to announce herself, which wasn't needed in any case — upon her arrival, the men around the door stopped their work and turned. The effect spread, until at last Captain Hobbes, bent over the large table in animated discussion, perceived the sudden silence and turned as well.

Kate trailed in the wake of this aura, feeling simultaneously bemused and ignored. Working as Dr. Barlow's research associate for several months has afforded her with ample opportunity to witness the phenomenon, and even now she couldn't quite make up her mind on whether or not the ability was desirable.

Captain Hobbes cleared his throat. "Dr. Barlow," he said. "And Dr. Cruse. I'm very glad to find you both well. My apologies for not sparing the men to check upon you, the ship being as she is."

"Of course, Captain," Dr. Barlow said coolly. "I trust Dr. Busk has informed you of our present situation?"

The ship's chief scientific officer, his bowler slightly crooked, spoke up from beside the table. "I have. We were just discussing which parts of the ship could be discarded to lighten the weight." A grimace passed on his face. "And other, more dire avenues of action."

"Should the situation call for it," the Captain said firmly. "Might I inquire as to your presence here, Doctor? The last patch has actually just been applied not fifteen minutes ago, and as you can see, we are a little preoccupied."

Dr. Barlow sighed. "I would appreciate it, Captain, if you stopped treating us like passengers. This mission is as crucial to me as your ship and your crew is to you. As such, I come with a possible solution."

Quickly, she outlined the circumstances of Alek's discovery, and divulged a few of their conclusions — that he lived close by, that he had access to food, and that he had a possibly dangerous family. Kate stayed silent, and noted that Dr. Barlow made no mention regarding Alek's identity.

Captain Hobbes listened carefully, and let out a breath when the briefing was done.

"Hmm," he said. "A young Clanker lad who offered to help. How do we know this is not a trap?"

"I believe his intentions are altruistic. I consider myself a great judge of character, if I do say so myself."

"With no disrespect, Dr. Barlow, we cannot stake a hundred-odd souls on your judgement, as sound as it may be."

"Fine. Tell me, then, how do you suppose he can trap us? We are already trapped. The elements will destroy us, one and all, within two weeks. He needn't lift a finger."

The Captain snorted. "Point taken. Where is he?"

"At the present he is with one of your midshipman, Mr. Sharp, at the infirmary."

"I do not like taking this chance. Dr. Busk, provided enough food, how long will it take for us to be back at lifting capacity?"

Dr. Busk closed his eyes, apparently doing mental calculations. "Two to three days," he said after a few moments. "If the beasts gorge themselves every waking moment, and assuming maximum hydrogen genesis."

"It is our only hope," said Dr. Barlow. "Unless you mean to let the Leviathan die. You know as well as I do, Captain, that past thirty-five percent hydrogen loss the Leviathan will no longer support the operational minimum. Even if you strip the gondola bare, we will not see sky again."

The calmness of her words sent a chill through the bridge that the glacier could not match. It was as good as a death sentence, and worst of all, every man in the room knew it to be true.

The Captain let out an angry grunt.

"Very well, Dr. Barlow, it appears we have no choice. An armed party will escort this lad, under truce, to his so-called family, to begin negotiations. But before that, sent a rat and instruct Mr. Sharp to prepare for a Huxley ascension; I want a good look at the lay of the land. Mr. Shipley, please bring our fastest messenger peregrine. And Mr. Kohl, gather the crew. I shall address everyone at first light."

As the bridge burst into action, Dr. Barlow turned to Kate with the barest hint of a smirk.

"Not bad for a morning's work," she said. "Come along, Tazza. It's time to find our young Hapsburg."

ooo

The five fastest messenger peregrines were loosed early morning; two to the Admiralty, and three in the general direction of the friendly west, instructed to identify and deliver to any Air Service or Aéronautique Militaire vessel. The chances of encounter were slim; even though Britain and France had mobilized parts of their forces, combat drills were mostly inland, and after the declaration of war, it might take a day or two to station them closer to the border. Captain Hobbes, for one, had not been optimistic of a swift response.

"Depending on our luck," the old man had remarked gruffly, "we may get a three-day grace period before Lake Constance air reconnaissance discovered us. It is almost impossible that a friendly vessel with the ability to aid us will come within five days."

"And of course," added one of his officers, "it'll be well over a week if we wait for the Admiralty to receive the message and scramble a rescue mission." Not exactly facts that brightened anybody's spirits.

"It appears more rests upon our boy than we thought," Dr. Barlow had responded. "Let us hope he is up to the task."

Currently most of the ship was all outside, sheltered by the Leviathan's enormous bulk against the worst parts of the wind, as the Captain briefed the crew on their situation. Kate and Dr. Barlow had retreated into the relative warmth of the machine room, with one of them concerned about the state of the eggs, the other the state of the promethacytes. They found Alek waiting patiently inside the machine room, having been instructed to come here by the messenger rat.

"Alek," said Dr. Barlow, quickly checking the thermometer of the eggs. "I trust the message has updated you sufficiently?"

"Yes," the boy said, then grimaced. "Although your choice of messenger is… un—unsavory."

"What? The rats? Don't be silly," said Kate. "They're all sterile, you know. And docile! Think of them as pets. They've got a kicker sense of smell, which is why they can find you no matter where you are." Although, of course, since Alek's scent hadn't been imprinted into the rats' brain, the message had been sent using Sharp's scent.

"Pests, you mean," Alek said, shivering — the notion of rats tracing him by smell probably unnerved him — and eyeing the messenger tubes on the ceiling nervously. "And they appear out of—AH!—out of nowhere!"

Kate glanced up, and sure enough, as if understanding, a tiny white head of a messenger rat poked out. It brought its forepaws out of the opening, its tiny nose sniffing, and Alek flinched. She laughed.

"Why you Clankers can't stand animals, I don't think I'll ever know."

"That isn't an animal! That is an ungodly creation of your foul science… especially when they start talking!"

"Oh, don't be ridiculous. Over ninety-five percent of its AVP are identical to yours. We just tweaked it a little."

"What in the world is AVP?" said Alek, clearly out of his depth. "I'm sure I don't have any of your Darwinists' AVPs."

"Of course you do," interrupted Dr. Barlow, looking up from her eggs. "Every living creature does. It's the official name for life-threads — Anoxypentalose Vitaeic Polymer. Each cell in your body contains twenty-three pairs."

"Do you Clankers honestly not know this?" Kate asked, interested. To her, and to most people in Darwinist nations, the existence of AVP was a fact that did not need affirmation. It was the simplest foundation of all the technology around them, and even children knew of life threads and the concept of fabrication.

"It is nonsense," Alek insisted. "God had never mentioned life threads, or AVPs."

"Neither had He mentioned Walkers or land dreadnoughts or mechanical calculators," Dr. Barlow responded calmly, with the air of having been through the argument many times.

"That's… different! Our technologies are natural."

"I would argue our work is more natural," Kate said. "We do not require such a vast quantity of steel, coal, and aluminium that we strip nature bare just to fuel our cities and war machines. We take nature's blueprints and add on our own bits."

Alek growled, seeming frustrated.

"Plus, why are we unnatural when you Clankers are so afraid of our creatures?"

"We're not afraid of creatures," the boy retorted, and then yelped when Tazza nudged him. Kate laughed.

Dr. Barlow cleared her throat. "Stop teasing him, Dr. Cruse," she said, although she too had a slight smirk on her face. "In any event, Alek, we'll wait here with you until Mr. Sharp has finished his survey and we're ready to go. Then we shall see who the Captain sends to greet your family."

The boy sighed. "Very well. But I hope Dylan hurries up." He stole a glance out of the machine room porthole. "My family will be here soon."

"Still so certain of their arrival? They are awfully protective of you, aren't they?" Kate mused.

"They have… high hopes for me."

"Ha, I wish mine have high hopes."

Alek seemed surprised. "What do you mean? You are a fabricator, and you can't be older than twenty!"

"I'm eighteen. So what?"

"Well, you're… a fabricator! Isn't that like a master engineer in Darwinist society? Surely your family is satisfied."

Kate had no idea whether or not that was a valid comparison, but wearing her bowler on the streets of London does earn her considerable respect compared to otherwise, and she supposed that mechaniks or engineers would have a similar position in Clanker places.

"Perhaps," she said with a slight shrug. "But all my parents want is for me to marry a rich man, and sit at home, and host parties all day."

The remark came out a deal more cynical than she intended, and she suppressed the bitter taste in her mouth as she thought of her parents, whom she hadn't seen in over half a year, and their response to her marriage. They had, of course, not attended the reception aboard the Aurora, nor acknowledged the wedding in any way. She will be disowned if she dared return home with Matt, her father had said, and though legally she was still their daughter, she did not think he was joking.

"Oh," said Alek, suddenly looking quite sober. "I suppose I know what that feels like."

Kate raised an eyebrow. "Do you now? Your parents have similar hopes for you?"

"My parents… they aren't with me."

Something in the boy's voice made Kate shiver. She remembered the large photograph probably still on front pages all over the world. She exchanged a glance with Dr. Barlow.

"Alek," the older scientist said gently. "Have your parents… are they —"

A blast of noise from the klaxon interrupted her, and outside they heard men shouting to each other, voices muffled by the walls. All of them looked at one another, not knowing what to expect, until a moment later, when the machine room door burst open with a clang that jolted all of them to a start. In rushed a breathless, red-faced Dylan Sharp, carried by a blast of cold air from the hallway outside.

"Mr. Sharp!" said Dr. Barlow, blinking. "What's all the fuss out there?"

Sharp ignored her; his eyes went straight to the Austrian boy. "Alek!" he cried, still panting. "It's your family!"

Alek sighed and stood up. "As I expected," he said.

"They've sent an emissary?" Dr. Barlow asked.

"They've sent a barking war machine!" Sharp yelled, before grabbing Alek's arm. The next second, the two boys were already down the hall, footsteps echoing loudly on the floor.

There was a stunned silence in the machine room.

"What did he mean, a war machine?" Kate asked after a few seconds. Sharp had looked dead serious… and afraid, too.

"I do not know," said Dr. Barlow. "But we best hurry if we want to find out."

Outside, they found the entire ship ready for battle. The three strafing gliders still well enough to fly had taken off, screeching as they circled the ship. Air ballista and air cannons had been hastily adjusted to aim to the east, and Kate spotted organic acid grenades being carefully ferried out in crates. High above and still climbing, three Huxleys floated over the ship, moored against the powerful glacial winds by tightly winched lines.

She looked to the direction they were all facing, and could only see a shimmer of heat surrounding a metallic object, fast advancing. There was, still faint, a very distant rumble, and also a very slight tremor in the ground.

She stood there in the snow, watching, until all at once she made out the gaping maw of artillery, and metal legs, and the swiveling gun turrets to the side.

"It is a Stormwalker," Dr. Barlow said with disbelief, having observed the same. "His family sent a Stormwalker."

"I think your hypothesis is becoming more and more plausible, Doctor," Kate said drily.

"I must concur. But where did Mr. Sharp…"

Kate scanned the scene.

"Over there!" she cried, pointing.

Two small figures were running in the snow, their silhouettes dark against the brightening eastern sky, straight towards the Stormwalker as fearless as David charging at Goliath. Somewhere, someone gave the order to hold fire, and the entire ship watched as the boys made their way across the vast white expanse, the only things preventing mutual annihilation.

They slowed about two hundred yards from the charging Walker, and one of them waved his arms. The metal giant thundered on for a few more seconds, before suddenly tipping backwards. Then, a leg jutted out in front and brought it to a sliding halt a mere hundred yards ahead of the children, an icy cloud drifting up around it.

So close, the difference in size was immediately apparent; the Stormwalker was as large as an elephantine, and its long shadow threatened to engulf the small human figures before it. Sharp pulled out something, dragged Alek in front of him, and shouted a command to the Walker, drowned out by its still-rumbling engine.

Slowly, the engine died down. Even the winds have abated for now, leaving the glacier eerily silent. Without smoke and heat billowing from its exhaust pipes, the Stormwalker looked like a sentinel statue, ancient and silent and alien.

After what seemed like a year, the machine's front started to rotate, and then opened like it was awakening from slumber. From so far away Kate couldn't make out the scene clearly, but she thought she saw faces in the opening, peering out.

"Attention, Clankers!" Sharp shouted in his still-high voice. "Send down Volger, under truce."

"Who is Volger?" wondered Kate.

"No doubt a member of Alek's family," said Dr. Barlow. "Well, that does save us the trouble of going to find them."

"We still have to see if they are willing to bargain," Kate said. "But of course, if Alek is truly him…"

"Look!" Dr. Barlow pointed. Kate turned back to the Stormwalker, and saw that a hatch had opened between its legs. A metal ladder dropped down, swaying wildly, and after a few moments a fur-coated man climbed down.

"That must be Volger," said Kate. "Whoever he is."

The man Volger strode over to the two boys, and the peculiar party of three stood conversing in the snow. A moment later, Sharp turned and gave the ship a thumbs up, and Kate imagined him to be sporting a huge grin.

Dr. Barlow laughed.

"Let's head to the salon," she said. "I have a feeling Mr. Sharp has just secured us the chance for a valuable conference."

Author's Notes:

AVP is, obviously, a made-up name for DNA, deoxyribose nucleic acid. It means a complex life-giving molecule (vitaeic polymer) made of five-carbon-ringed sugars (pentalose) that has one less oxygen than otherwise (anoxy).