A/N: You know, I had told myself back in July that I should do a Christmas-themed chapter if I ever got close to that time of year. I never thought I would end up doing it, to be honest.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all of this fanfic's readers! Here's hoping that 2015 will be a good year.
Chapter 21
"Leaking Ship"
Zoological Society of London, British Empire
December 24th, 1916
As part of its public relations campaign to get younger children interested in Darwinism, the Zoological Society of London was open on Christmas Eve with heavily-discounted admission. Dr. Barlow's reasoning behind her support for this program was simple: the earlier they started a child's interest in Darwinism, the less likely he or she would be to become a Clanker later in life. With the war in Austria, the instability of Russian, and the fears that Germany was rebuilding its army discretely, she surmised that they would need all of the support they could get in the future. The Council voted in favor of her proposal, then immediately told her that she would have to spend Christmas Eve monitoring it herself while they took paid vacations.
This was the reason why she was out in the cold, explaining the science behind life chains to bundled-up eight-year olds accompanied by indifferent adults. While the staff was cut down to a half of its normal size during this time, the remaining boffins were encouraged to move around the zoo and interior facilities to answer any questions and talk up the accomplishments of Darwinism.
"…And, on your left, you'll see a hydrogen sniffer," she said, pointing towards the large cage accommodating several older fabrications. "These fabrications were some of the first ever hatched by my grandfather. You'll see them all around airbeasts, since it's their job to sniff out hydrogen leaks. Hence, the name hydrogen sniffer!"
A few children went, "Ooh," or clapped their hands. The rest of the crowd was busy shivering, whispering to each other, or staring off in other directions.
She didn't entirely blame them for their inattentiveness. Most of these people already knew what a hydrogen sniffer was. Also, not only was it a grey, chilly afternoon in London, but the snowfall from the previous night hadn't been completely cleared off of the tour's path. So, what was supposed to be a colorful array of information boards and exotic caged fabrications turned out to be a white-and-grey walking tour with snow-covered boards and most of the "exciting" fabrications inside for their safekeeping. It was like going to the zoo to see an elephant or tiger, only to find that both of their exhibits have been replaced with garden snake exhibits.
One of the little girls in front raised her hand. "Yes, do you have question?" Dr. Barlow asked, grateful that someone might have been paying attention to her.
The girl lowered her arm. "Where do the hydrogen sniffers come from?"
"Eggs, actually. Large eggs that we engineer in the Zoological Society's Interior Laboratories."
"Will we get to see that?" a boy next to her asked.
"Unfortunately, no. The fabricating process is very gradual and complex, and we can't allow people to potentially interfere until it is complete." Of course, that was a lie: the true reason was that they did not want any Clanker spies to know how they made military-grade fabrications such as message lizards or strafing hawks.
Another boy accompanied by his mother raised his hand. "My da told us that beasties are insults to God and man, and that they have demon souls."
Dr. Barlow maintained her cheery exterior while deeply desiring to choke some sense into that boy's father. "I'm afraid that your father is mistaken, dear. Fabrications are not some devilish creations, but the backbone of our Empire as well! Thanks to them, our industrial and military power is at an all-time high, and we have a higher standard of living! They aren't ungodly abominations, take my word for it."
The boy nodded, no doubt intending to parrot those words to his father without realizing what sort of argument that would create. Once again, though, the rest of the crowd seemed to be in another world. Thankfully, she came prepared for this.
"Not only that, but they're utterly adorable!" she said, wishing she didn't have to use phrases like "utterly adorable" to pander to the children.
She pulled Bovril out from within her winter coat, holding him out to the excited crowd of children. Bovril, who had been enjoying the warmth, shivered and shook its head at her, all while the children shuffled forward to pet the odd-looking yet cute creature.
"Its name is Bovril," she said, "and it is one of our most intelligent fabrications. It can understand and speak English, just like you and I. Right, Bovril?"
The fabrication blinked, shook its hands, and said, "Barking spiders," in front of the crowd.
Blushing with embarrassment, she immediately pulled it back from the laughing children and flustered parents. Turning her back to the crowd, she glared at Bovril, who attempted to look as innocent as possible.
"Not one word out of your mouth until this tour is over, or I'll swear I'll drop you in the leech cage when we get back."
Bovril quickly crawled back into her coat's inner compartments, no doubt recognizing the seriousness behind her threat. Dr. Barlow turned towards the crowd, all smiles once more.
"My apologies. It would seem that it picked up quite the sailor's mouth since I spoke with it last." Again, another lie. It had learned to swear from the Scottish girl years ago. She had coached him to say anything other than an option from Deryn's vocabulary. Since it had done the exact opposite in other attempts, she wondered if reverse psychology would be necessary to make the loris perform an action on command. She would have to test that further when she had more time.
"Now, if you all would follow me, we will reach the final point in our tour, where you will see one of the grandest fabrications ever birthed: a fully-grown Russian war bear, on loan from the Romanov royal family themselves!" That seemed to get the crowd's attention. "Yes, this massive, powerful fabrication was made to withstand the worst winter conditions, and carry thousands of pounds at a time! It truly is the pinnacle of modern Darwinist fabrication methods!"
She thought that the last claim was an overstatement, but the contract with the Romanovs obliged her to use those exact words to describe it to audiences. For better or worse, she had to downplay the usefulness of her smaller, more productive fabrications to promote the attention-grabbing, resource-sapping war bear.
A woman from the back of the crowd edged her way to the front. "Has the Zoological Society ever fabricated a war bear, or do you leave that to the Russians?" she asked, her voice raspy and accented.
"Sadly, only Russian Darwinists know the right combination of life chains to fabricate that sort of creature. For now…" Her lecture slowed to a halt upon getting a better view of the woman.
She was wearing an odd overcoat, which seemed to be sown together from several conflicting styles of Clanker military clothing. Her accent sounded Germanic in tone, and rather youthful if it weren't for the raspiness of it. What caught her attention was the woman's face: one eye was blinded with a scar running down her eyelids, and a burn scar ran along the other side of her face.
Gottschalk was here.
"…For now," she continued, "We will leave that in the hands of Russian Darwinists."
"So, what you're saying is that you don't have the capabilities to fabricate something that complex?"
"I never said that." Annoyance was creeping into her voice. "We have attempted to make fabrications like them, but we found it much more viable to focus on fabrications capable of flight."
"So you say…" Gottschalk smiled coolly at her. "But, I'm not the guide here. Continue on as if I haven't said anything," she said, shooting her a look that said, "because you've done such a good job of that in the past."
"No, I appreciate all of your questions! I'm glad you're curious about this, ma'am."
Dr. Barlow led them on to the massive enclosure for the war bear. Much to her dismay, it had fallen asleep, rendering its usual antics of chasing down food and bellowing ferociously a moot point. In that state, it was nothing more than a massed ton of fur that snored once in a while. She was tempted to throw a stick at it to wake it up, but in these conditions, the poor creature deserved a rest.
"Dreadfully sorry, everyone. I had hoped that Reznov here was going to be awake for our tour, but as you can see, he's fast asleep. The gift shop is open if anyone is interested in a late Christmas gift, and our boffins should be around the zoo if you need any other questions answered. It has been a pleasure…"
The crowd, save for the inquisitive children, had turned their attention to Gottschalk, whom someone must have recognized from the news reports of the civil war. They peppered her with praise and questions, wondering when Austria would become Darwinist territory or if she would assist with an invasion of Germany when she kicked the Clankers out of Austria. She happily returned their questions with neutral responses, saying that the war may take another year and that reconstruction would have to occur before an invasion would be approved by her.
"Dr. Barlow?" the Monkey Luddite boy asked her. "Who's that?"
"A very unscrupulous woman," she muttered, "who desperately wishes to avenge her family on the children and allies of those who harmed them."
"Is she friendly?"
"That depends entirely on what mood you find her in."
Just as the boy left her, Gottschalk waded through the crowd to her side. The two women, despite their common interests in promoting Darwinism and making fabrications, did not face each other. Instead, they stood side by side, neither one turning to look at her reluctant companion.
Gottschalk was the first to speak up. "I suppose it's obvious, but I came here to do more than put you on the spot."
"And why, exactly, are you here?"
"To give you an idea of my progress, and to make something very clear to you. Salzburg will be our next target, and unlike Lienz, we will succeed in taking it back from the Clankers. You see…"
Out of the corner of her eye, Dr. Barlow could see that Gottschalk was smiling. "I've developed a serious advancement in anti-armor fabrications. These fabs will render their walkers useless if I can deploy them in time…and, I assure you, I will."
Gottschalk sounded confident, but Dr. Barlow could never tell how much of her outward persona was genuine and how much was for show. "And what do you need to make clear to me, aside from the fact that you still hold a grudge against me."
Her smile dropped, no doubt from the memories of their previous, unpleasant encounters. "I appreciate how you brought Sharp over to the cause, but I do not appreciate being lied to about the people working for me."
A twitch of nervousness fluttered in her stomach. Had she figured out her scheme already? "You will have to be more specific than that, Miss Gottschalk," she said, her face failing to betray her growing state of concern.
"You told me that I was receiving a Mr. Dylan Sharp, but my inner circle and I have dug into your agent's history, and it turns out that I got a Ms. Deryn Sharp instead. Care to explain why you lied to me?"
If Dr. Barlow were a different sort of women, she would have breathed a sigh of relief. But, stoic as always, she said, "Ms. Sharp is very sensitive about her gender, so I tend not to publicize that sort of information. Sadly, her opportunities are limited by how long she can convince the world that she is a boy."
"A damn shame. She deserves better than that." Gottschalk paused. "We deserve better. Both of us do."
If it were any other woman talking to her, she might have agreed and talked about her belief in women's solidarity. However, she was trying to sabotage the efforts this particular one, which would make her feel hypocritical for supporting such a belief now.
"In what way?" Dr. Barlow asked, feigning ignorance.
"I mean, in general! Both of us have been pushed around, belittled, and held back because of who we are." Gottschalk quivered with emotion. "We're just as good, if not better, than the men who consider us inferior. If I can win in Austria, Barlow…think about what that will do for the rights of women! Europe's leaders will look at my victory and think, 'If a woman can overthrow a Clanker state, then who knows what else they could be capable of!' I could change the world!"
It was almost sad to hear her. So much of Gottschalk reminded Dr. Barlow of herself early on at the Zoological Society: brash, headstrong, yet capable and endlessly creative. If she wasn't so unstable, she might consider taking her on as another protégé. The woman had true talent, something that she could never deny.
"And that's why, my dear, I sent Agent Sharp your way. She will steer Austria towards a stable, prosperous future."
Gottschalk nodded. "Thank you, Barlow. You don't know how much this means to me. I mean, ever since you rejected my application for the Society, I thought…I thought you hated me. But…I was wrong." She smiled, and quietly added, "Thank you for proving me wrong."
As a token of perceived goodwill, Dr. Barlow shook her hand and bid her a safe trip home, leaving her alone with a few stragglers from her tour and the perspicacious loris in her coat. She hoped that Deryn would have the sense to keep her head low and avoid anything too risky, but knew that the idea was ridiculous. The girl thrived on taking risks. If she didn't, then they never would have met in the first place. It was hard to picture her as a complacent, ordinary girl, and for that she admired her.
One of the men beside her coughed loudly. "Ehm…you're Barlow, aye?" the apparently-Scottish older boy asked her.
"Yes, that is correct." She gave him a quick glance-over; nothing stood out in particular. He was of tall height, had reddish-brown hair, and stood with stature of an Air Service soldier. "And you are?"
"Oh – sorry about that, forgot, we never met. I've heard a lot about you, though." He extended his hand. "Jaspert Sharp. I'm Deryn's brother."
She shook his hand, saying, "It's a pleasure to finally meet you in person as well, Mr. Sharp." It felt odd to say that phrase in a non-sarcastic manner. "Your sister has told me much about you too. Some of her favorite descriptions of you are…let me think…bum-rag, clart-head, and obnoxious ninny to name a few. Would you consider any of those to be accurate?"
Jaspert's ears flushed red. "Well-ma'am, you know how it is. Brother-sister rivalries and all that." He cleared his throat again. "I actually came here to talk to you about Deryn. You see…our ma, she's real worried about her. I tried to tell her that she was alright, but even I don't know where the clart she is. I know that her job takes some amount of hush-hush to work, but I just need some way to make our ma sleep a little easier."
Zoological Society protocols were very clear on how to handle classified jobs: no information is to be leaked into the public whatsoever for a bare minimum of ten years after the operation's completion. Failure to comply by these laws could get one brought before a military tribunal or thrown into a cramped cell for an unspecified amount of time. In short, sentimentality is highly discouraged by the higher-ups within the Society, and senior officials like herself followed these rules to the point.
On the other hand, it was almost Christmas. She could afford to let a concerned brother and widowed mother know that one of their own was alright.
"You and Mrs. Sharp have nothing to lose sleep over. Currently, Deryn is safe, and although I cannot disclose where she is now, I know that she will survive her overseas ordeal and return home."
She was tempted to give him more information, but by the off-chance this was a Clanker agent with a convincing accent, she had to be vague on details.
Regardless, Jaspert seemed happy with the news. "That's great news! I'll be sure to tell our ma that Deryn's doing well. If you see her again, could you let her know that the Minotaur will be shipping out in a few weeks, and that I hope she's doing alright?"
"When I get the chance, I will relay your message to Deryn. I know she will appreciate it."
"Oh, and one more thing…" Jaspert sighed, as if whatever he was going to say next was coming reluctantly, "tell Alek that I hope all is well with him, too."
In the distance, a bell tower chimed five times. Dr. Barlow sighed, knowing that her time with Alan tonight was going to be even shorter than they had hoped. She had no doubts that most of the closing-up duties would be left to her.
"All should be well with Alek, too. I can understand how you find faults in him, but he is a smart, level-headed boy. Unless he goes out of his way to act heroic, he should stay out of trouble."