The Flux Engine (31 page)

John just stared at her for a long moment.

“You’re leaving?” he said at last.

She looked away, then slowly met his eyes.

“I have to,” she said at last.

“No,” he said, crossing his arms over his chest. “You don’t.”

Her gaze hardened and she took a step toward him.

“Yes I do,” she said. “You’re a real enforcer now. You can’t go around with the likes of me.” Her eyes grew bright as she spoke. “I’m a thief, John. It’s what I am. If I stay, sooner or later you’ll have to choose between me and doing your job. I won’t tarnish you like that. You mean too much to me for that.”

“I do?”

She turned her face away.

“You know what I mean.”

“I never would have stopped Morgan if it wasn’t for you, Robi. If it wasn’t for you, I’d still be rotting in Sheriff Batts’ jail.”

“Or a dark stain on the desert floor.”

“Exactly. I can’t do this job without you. There are …” he paused, searching for words, “legal … ways to be a thief. To be the World’s Greatest Thief.”

“Are there?” she wondered. “I don’t know.”

Robi turned back to him, her hand seeking out his. She held it for a moment, then pressed something hard and round into it. John opened his hand to find a small brass compass with a crystal needle that was not pointing north.

“It’s the sympathetic compass,” she said. “I don’t know if Solomon has switched airships, but this should lead you to his old one. It’s a place to start.”

“See what I mean—” he began, but she pressed a finger against his lips. As he watched, she pulled a small cord from her pocket. At the bottom dangled a piece of red crystal in a wire cage. The whole thing was about the size of the tip of John’s thumb.

“This was stuck to your shirt,” she said. “I think it’s a bit of your mom’s crystal. Maybe there’s still a chance you can find her.” She passed the loop over John’s head and stepped back as it came to rest over his heart. As it touched him, warbling echoes of its former music filled his mind and his chest erupted in gooseflesh.

He didn’t know what to say. He’d come to terms with the idea that his mother was forever lost to him. Now Robi had given him what he dared not claim for himself.

Hope.

“I—” he began, but she threw herself forward and kissed him. Her lips were hot and sweet and he wrapped his arms around her and held her tight until she finally pulled away. As he released her, she leapt back to the window, vaulting onto the sill with the grace of a cat.

“Will you come back?” he asked as she leaned out, her weight resting on the thin rope locked into her rappelling belt.

She winked at him and dropped out of sight.

He followed to the window and was just in time to see her detach from the rope and look up. Without a word, John untied the rope and let it drop back to her.

Always leave them wondering how you got out.

Robi stuffed the rope in her bag, blew him a kiss, and disappeared into the crowd on the pilgrim’s walk. John stared after her for a long time before turning away and shutting the window. He had wanted to tell her how he felt about her, but somehow he knew that would only drive her away farther and faster. Whatever she had to discover about the world or herself, she would have to do it alone—for now.

John opened his hand and looked at the little brass compass.

In the meantime, there was something he could do to make the world a better place. He tucked the compass into his waistcoat pocket and went to tell Hickok they had a place to start.

About the Author

Born in Washington DC and raised just east of there in Maryland, Dan grew up among the most practiced of storytellers, politicians. Despite that, he decided to become a writer rather than a professional liar or grifter. He moved west to Utah to attend college and studied writing. Like everyone who studies writing, he had to find some way to make money and worked as a mechanic, a customer service rep, a programmer, a web designer, a software tester, and, occasionally, a copy writer.

Eventually, Dan’s writing caught the eye of Wizards of the Coast, and he began writing for their
DragonLance: The New Adventures
series. Most recently, Dan worked with NYT Bestselling author, Tracy Hickman on a new alternate history Civil War series,
Dragons of the Confederacy
.