The Falling Machine Read Online Free Page B

dropped to the ground, the wind catching his hat as it came off his head. It rose up in the air for a moment before tumbling into the river below. The Irishman looked down at Nathaniel with contempt. “You're a rich, pompous prick.” He aimed his left harpoon down at Nathaniel and fired. The barb shot straight through Nathan's thigh, making a deep ping as it sank into the granite below. The young man screamed. Blood began to pool beneath the trapped leg, steaming in the cold winter air.
    The Bomb Lance turned toward Sarah and pointed a harpoon straight at her chest. “As I told Sir Dennis, lovely girl, I'm going to let you live. But I need you to give the Paragons a message.”
    A tear rolled down her cheek. “They'll kill you for this.”
    “That's as may be, but it's not yer business, and it's not right now. I just need for you to tell them that the Eschaton is coming. Can you do that for me?”
    Sarah pressed her lips together.
    He poked her slightly with the tip of the harpoon. “You just say yes, and we're all done here.”
    “Wait.” She lifted up her left hand and bowed her head slightly.
    “Wait for what? Your Professor and his machine are dead. And yer boyfriend is going to bleed to death if you don't do something.”
    “Wait for that,” she said, as the Automaton's arm slammed into the side of the Bomb Lance's head. When he fell to the granite he was unconscious.
    She looked at Tom and gave him an order. “You must help Nathaniel.” He stepped forward, and she saw the crumpled form behind him.
    She ran toward Darby. “Professor!” The harpoon was still in him, hanging out of his chest. Tom had managed to catch him, interrupting his fall from the tower, but the jolt had made the wound far worse. He looked up at Sarah and tried to smile as she ran toward him, but the blood-flecked grimace he produced was terrifying.
    Tom kneeled down by Nathaniel's side, wrapped his hand gently around the shaft of the spear, and pulled slightly. Nathan screamed as it moved. “Stop it! Just stop!” he gasped out.
    “The…harpoon has penetrated your…leg and lodged into the…stone. It will need to be removed.” Tom made a fist with his right hand. The wrist bent all the way back until his fingers were flush against the top of his arm. With his left hand he reached under his shirt and into the clockworks of his stomach. When he pulled it out again he held a small saw-blade between his fingers.
    “What are you…?” Nathan tried to get up on his elbows. “Aaah. Haaaah!” The pain from the metal shaft rubbing against his bone dropped him back to the ground.
    Two small poles extended up from Tom's right wrist, and the blade snapped into the eyeholes at the top of them with a firm click. A gear rose up from underneath and engaged with another one on the side of the blade. It spun with a high-pitched whine. Nathan's eyes grew wide. “Stay the hell away from me!”
    “Lie back, please.” Gripping the harpoon with his left hand, Tom pressed the spinning saw into the iron shaft. A jet of steam blew out from the back of Tom's neck, and a shower of sparks arced out as metal touched metal.
    Sarah put the Professor's head on her lap and stroked his hair with her hands. His hat had been lost in the fall. “You're going to be okay, Sir Dennis. Tom will be here in a minute.”
    Darby's voice was faint. “He's not a surgeon, my dear. But even if he were, I think my wound is clearly fatal.”
    She moved her hands hesitantly toward the bloody gash, then pulled them away. “Don't say that!”
    He tried to smile. “It'll be all right, I think. But I'll need you to be strong for me.”
    “You can't die!” She bent down and gave his forehead a kiss. There were tears in her eyes. “I think I've been falling in love with you, Professor—perhaps for quite some time.”
    He looked up at her. “You have no idea how flattered I am to hear those words coming from those delightful lips of yours, my dear. But I'm also—” He