Wax focused his thoughts, pushing away the pain of betrayal.Think. You found those charts of launches. None of them could travel far enough. So…
He lowered his gun. “It doesn’t work.”
Telsin froze.
“The delivery device,” he said. “All this time, and it still can’t lift a bomb this big, can it? You’dhave fired it by now if it could.”
Telsin shrugged.
The detective in him grasped for connections. If she legitimately thought that the world would end if she didn’t destroy Elendel, she’dhave launched it anyway. On the hope that it worked. Because if she failed, everything ended anyway—so why not try?
Feeling cold, Wax raised his hand and increased his weight. Then he Pushed against the rocket. The whole construction collapsed, and the enormous weapon—the bomb—hit the rooftop with a resounding,hollowclang.
It was a decoy.
Telsin’s eyes went wide.
He turned and looked across the city, softly blanketed in mist, made indistinct—like a dream. Here in the mists he could think; he could make the connections that had eluded him all day. Where was the bomb?
They’dbeen planning this for years… waiting until the delivery device was ready. Building the launchpad high to give themselves the best chance. Those were the right threads. He’dfollowed the correct clues.
Problem was, in the end, they hadn’t been able to get it working. So when Wax had arrived earlier in the day, they’dpanicked. They’dmoved their bomb somewhere else. But where? Surely they weren’t going to deliver it by train or by road. Too obvious. Plus, he’dtold Steris to close both routes into the city. So what? They had to move and install their bomb on a new delivery device. So…
The docks,Wax realized, pieces clicking into place.They were genuinely surprised when I located the tunnel from the mansion. Why put their lab out there near the docks, instead of secure in this tower or one of the caverns?
Because they had another delivery method, a backup. In case the rocket never worked. And when I arrived in town they acted, taking the bomb from here to…
He spun, searching the darkness, and somehow he was able to seethroughthe mist. As if it thinned just for him. Distant, beyond the city, he picked out the trailing lights of something out on the open sea. An enormous warship, a Pewternaut-class vessel that had been docked all day. A show of force, he’dthought.
But also the fastest way to carry something large toward Elendel. A method that couldn’t be stopped by a railway or road blockade.
The bomb was on that ship.
“She thought you’dfind it,” Telsin whispered. “I think she prefers you to me. I’m… not sure how I feel about that.”
Wax’s mind raced. How to stop it? He rushed up to the edge of the roof, looking between the steel rods of the construction facade.
“Wax?” Wayne asked, hurrying up. “Nearly gave me a heart attack when you toppled that bomb there. What’s going on?”
“The rockets never worked,” he muttered. “Not well enough.”
“Autonomy wanted to figure them out,” Telsin said. “Turns out advanced ballistics and self-propelled rocketry proved a little beyond our grasp. Curiously, with this power I can… see hints of what is to come. But the mechanisms? Well, that takes experimentation, learning, iteration…”
Rust andRuin.He couldn’t reach that ship. It was already too far out in the ocean, far beyond what a Steelpush could manage. His anchor would give out, and he’ddrop into the depths.
“… Mate?” Wayne said, worried. “Wax? What’s wrong?”
Could he get to Elendel fast enough? He doubted he could outpace that ship. And even if he could, what would he do when he arrived? The ship would almost certainly detonate the bomb as soon as it drew enough of the city into the blast radius.
“Oh, give it up, Wax,” Telsin said, stepping closer. “Admit that I’m right. Did you know, that’s the most infuriating thing? When we were young I’dinvite you to join me, but you’djudgeme instead. You always thought you were too good for me.”
He turned, surprised at the vitriol in her voice.
“I’ve hated you for decades,” she hissed at him, her eyes pulsing an even deeper red. “Because you could never just admit it. Well, today,I’mdoing what has to be done. You’re going to watch. You’re going to weep. And I’m going to Ascend.”
How?
Therehadto be a way!