The City in the Sky

Mulligan felt his heart sink. He wasn’t sure he could take anymore ‘bad news’, and he certainly was afraid of subjecting Lucy to it in her fragile state.

“Should we talk in the hall?“, Mulligan asked, unnerved by the quaver in his own voice.

Archer shook his head. “No, this is something I think you should both hear: Irons has escaped.”

Mulligan’s hands and face went numb. Lucy sat in silence as if the thing were incomprehensible. “H..How?“, Mulligan asked stumbling over the simple word.

Archer pushed his eyepieces onto his forehead and rubbed his eyes with his palms before answering, “If you’ve read the papys’ already, you may know that the ex-minister is a very powerful man with powerful connections. We can only assume that someone inside the department tipped him off. When we went to collect him he had already fled.”

Lucy gasped and Mulligan’s face went even paler than normal.

“It gets worse”, continued Archer. “We think he may even have a man inside this hospital. We are pretty sure he knows you’re here, Miss Devonshire and I don’t doubt for a second that he would hesitate to seek revenge.”

“The stranger in the observatory”, whispered Mulligan. He felt vindicated and horrified all at once. “What do we do now, Fred?“, he asked.

“We’ve increased MCA presence here: We have an officer stationed on every floor. However, I don’t think it’s safe for you to stay here much longer. It’s also a pretty safe bet that Irons has your home address, James. I would advise you move to a safe house until we’ve located the erstwhile Sir Irons.”

Mulligan forcibly swallowed the knot in his suddenly dry throat. He nodded and said, “Thank you, Fred.”

Archer forced a smile that faded as quickly as it came. “I will see about arranging Miss Devonshire’s immediate discharge.” He almost ran out the door.

Mulligan refocused on Lucy. She appeared outwardly cheerful despite having just received news that she was still marked for death. Mulligan wondered if he hadn’t underestimated the resiliency of his love. He tried to reflect her optimism as he spoke. “You know, I’ve always wanted to travel to the Americas”, he offered casually.

Lucy raised her eyebrows. “’Liza used to tell me that a few Clockworks had made the journey to the new country. She said that they weren’t readily...welcomed.”

“We may just have to take our chances, dearest. I think we will be safer over there than in AeryLondon.”

“It will be a long trip”, said Lucy, who’s face now reflected the turmoil that turned inside her. Finally, as she had in discussions before, she raised her face to Mulligan’s and with a carefree smile said, “But as you said, my love, I will stay by your side, come what may.”