Empire

By ~PrennCooder

This is my idea what would happen after Goliath's conclusion. Alek, Deryn and Volger join the Zoological society of London. I was inspired to write this story for my friend at school who is responsible for getting me involved in the series. Her birthday's coming up, so i'm giving her a copy of this story as a gift. I hope you all enjoy it as much as she does. thank you for reading and don't forget to review!

"It's a big black building, you can't miss it." Dr. Barlow was driving. Count Volger sat in the front passenger seat tightening his crisp tie. Out of the rear view mirror, he gained sight of the important lad and lass who sat in the rear. Volger shifted out of pure nerve. He wasn't nervous, but he knew they were.

Alek and Deryn sat in the back of the old brown vehicle. The loud engine was sputtering and the air was nippy through the open windows. Alek glanced at his long-time companion and fellow hero, Deryn and she gazed back into her eyes. Neither of them knew what to expect. They had naught but the dusty metallic clothes on their backs, worn and torn by age and tasks that should not have been put on their shoulders at only the austere age of sixteen.

Deryn scanned the area they were passing. She'd never seen a view quite like this before. London. A Darwinist country on a large Darwinist isle.

Ever since the Goliath had been destroyed, the biggest climax of the war was over, or so Volger had explained. Alek was glad at that. The worst of it was exaggerated through the twisted words of reporters, such as Eddie Malone and Adela Rodgers. It's funny how two people can make thousands of dollars all just for making up a story and invading where their prying eyes were not welcome.

For the past three weeks, Alek had been able to avoid publicity. While he sat around all calm and confident, there was not a moment of time where Deryn did not worry about where and when that ghastly bum-rag Eddie Malone would care to let her secret spill out.

Alek had reassured her that even if the world knew now, that nobody would be able to find her now that she was going where she was going…the Zoological Society of London.

"We're almost here." Barlow's lightly accented voice pulled Deryn out of her daydream.

"Barking spiders!" Deryn pressed her hands against the window of the car and slipped her head through. "It's magnificent!"

"Sure is." Alek said slowly. Next to him on the spare seat sat Tazza and Bovril—sleeping comfortably in their fur. They woke up with all of the commotion.

"Magnificent." Bovril said.

The building was made of black glass on the front—pure and sheer. The rest of the walls were rusty iron gears disguised by metallic black paint. The purpose of this ruse was for the building to appear fine and posh. However, the inside was quite contrary.

Alek and Deryn followed the lady boffin through the doors. She had to enter a special combination. Alek slipped Bovril into his pocket where he could be more comfortable. Deryn kept Tazza close by and received weird looks from the people. Dr. Barlow tipped her bowler hat at some young men at a station.

There were several stations like this. This particular room was filled with several stations like this one, each with several men operating from behind a tall counter. It reminded Alek of an old-time bank. Cold and humorless. Colorless.

Silent except for the mysterious whispers of passing workers bored with their job and ready to move on with their lives. All was new. All was different. And all had a British accent. They were men in suits, dressed slightly more formal than your average working man. Most of them had mustaches, spectacles or both. Their hair was dark and slicked back with oil.

Volger blended right in.

Alek was casually scanning the room and one of the men met his gaze. Alek expected the man to be cold and mysterious, but surprisingly he was a rather welcoming fellow. He tipped his hat to the lady boffin as she walked past. She returned his respect with a nod, which Alek and Deryn imitated.

The three of them passed an archway into a short hallway behind the scenes. The stairs were wooden, but the floor was made of steel. Barlow's heels clanked loudly as she walked down. Deryn had an uncertainty in her step. She was smart to be wary.

"How many flights of barking stairs before we reach the bottom?" Deryn swore loudly. Alek put his finger to his lips to try and hush her.

Barlow only chuckled. Bovril chuckled too. Tazza was panting.

They must have downed three hundred stairs before Dr. Barlow pulled them off to the side. It was almost as if she picked a door at random. There were many doors at the end of each staircase flight. In other words, the Zoological Society of London was barking huge. Huge enough to store a lot of maps and knowledge and most likely a staff of a thousand members. It had crossed Alek's mind once or twice that this place might be a secret hideaway for those seeking refuge, as well as a hideaway for other things as well. The place was definitely big enough to store beasties of any size. Naturally, the staircase continued on downward for several stories. Possibly ten or more.

Deryn wondered if there might be weapons abroad.

The lady boffin ended the suspense for the moment by opening the chestnut door. She closed it once they were inside. Volger followed Barlow as if he was her personal assistant, almost as if he was familiar to this place.

Alek and Deryn stood side by side in a large office. The floor was dark wood and in the center of the room was a tapestry for a rug. Various sitting chairs were scattered about the room. Alek decided that their purpose was mostly for decoration and not actual use. There was a brick fireplace at the short ends of the long, rectangular room.

The wallpaper was branded with a plain pattern and one side was entirely made of wooden board. In the far side of the room, paintings decorated the wall. There was a line. At the very end of the line hung a picture of young Nora Barlow in one of her better dresses. Deryn suspected that those faces must have belonged to previous owners, rulers or cabinet members of the Zoological Society.

In the center of the room sat the most important piece of furniture—one great long mahogany desk with a shiny surface covered in scattered papers, folders and various candlelight lamps. Six men and two women sat abroad, cycling and shifting through the papers and seeming to ignore their guests.

Dr. Barlow put her hands on her hips and cleared her throat. Immediately, the secretarial group looked up, stacked their papers, and shifted their shoulders so that they were sitting up just right. "Everything seems to be in proper order, I suppose?" The lady boffin raised one eyebrow and she could tell that they had been slacking off.

"Yes ma'am." One of the men answered. His accent was Scottish, thicker than Deryn's.

Dr. Barlow nodded and approached one of the women. "Draw up the papers, if you would, for two more…" Barlow's voice drifted to an unclear whisper that neither Deryn nor Alek could make out.

The two of them just stood there with their feet stuck in one position on the ground. It was Tazza and Bovril who were making all the noise. Tazza lingered about and proudly pranced across the room to get a better view of it though all the while Deryn was calling it back to her. Bovril became more comfortable with his surroundings and climbed onto Alek's shoulder.

"Drawing a conclusion." Bovril said.

Alek's head snapped to his pet and he whispered to him, "What conclusion?" Deryn hushed them.

The lady boffin approached with a pleasant smile. Her eyes were half-closed, probably due to tiredness, disappointment, or worry. The perspicacious woman said, "We have room for two more. That is, if you'd like to live here."

"I have no other home." Alek said somberly.

"And I've got no proper place to stay either." Deryn looked up.

"Proper." Bovril said.

"I'll just," Barlow opened the doorway out of the office, "Show you to your new home then." The troop marched back onto the oddly-constructed wooden staircase. Up two flights until they reached the destination. The lady boffin held the door open for them and let them pass, careful to shut the door afterwards. They faced a long, narrow gray hall. These new doors were stiff and cheap, made from paler wood. There must have been a hundred of them down this one hall alone and God knows how many doors down the detours. They walked all the way down to the very end of the hall. Two rooms that happened to be vacant were presented to Alek and Deryn.

Barlow pointed to a room in a side-hall where Volger could make his home.

The number was on the dull bronze knob. "3467." Alek read aloud.

"3469." Deryn said.

"They're yours to stay in for as long as you like. And if you provide a service to the Society, you may start to earn money and upgrade your items. But for now, that's all we've got. During the war, we had to split rations among many." The lady boffin explained. "They're not locked. Go ahead."

At the same time, they opened their doors. Alek surveyed the room upon proceeding. Deryn was the first to enter. Though the rooms were identical, the two of them had different expectations laid out in their minds. Alek, for one, was relieved at the moment to have a permanent residence. Deryn was somewhat disappointed, but she had become accustomed to that.

The room was only about twelve by twenty feet. It had one small closet, as well as a small metal bed with a nightstand and a lamp. On one end of the wall was a desk with a single chair. Leaning against the wall was a short bookcase with some random literature as well as a Bible and a book on the history of the Zoological society. Underneath the desk was a small parchment set aside for trash and other waste. The walls were faded blue in color. The floors were a greenish-tinted wood. It was so old it looked odd.

"Thank you for your kindness." Alek told Barlow. There was a certain sense of earnesty in his voice, one he had not been born with but had learned along the way.

The lady boffin gave him a respectful bow.

"Kindness." Bovril said.

Deryn sighed. "Yes, thank you." She told Barlow in a rush. Tazza had already taken upon itself to make the bed its home.

The lady boffin started to walk away. It was Alek that chased after her. "To what services were you referring to?"

She turned around with a smile. "I'm glad you asked." She spoke with an upward tone as if she didn't expect one of them to go on asking. "We here have been working on new machines for quite some time."

"Clanker or Darwinist?"

"None of that matters here. The machines are neutral. They were made in the name of scientific advancement and are by no means to be used in the affairs of war. That all was kept secret here. It's confidential. Any information you learn here does not leave these walls. You understand?"

Alek nodded.

"Good. What sort of job would you be interested in? There are many, I can assure you."

"Mechanics might interest me."

"Come."

Alek followed her down more stairs. They cycled down to the bottom. Alek's thighs were throbbing.

Back up, Deryn had finally made a deal with Tazza that it could take rest on the shelf in the closet instead of the bed. Deryn stepped outside and was surprised to discover that the only two allies she had in this place had vanished. "Blisters!" She crossed her arms and stomped her foot.

A door opened and Deryn looked both directions. She saw no change in the hall until someone rounded the corner. That face was unforgettable—and that dress with the hat and one purple feather sticking up. "Deryn Sharp!" Footsteps rushed.

"Lilit." Deryn said flatly. Her acquaintance threw her arms around her neck. Deryn did not hug back, but did not push away either.

Lilit was smiling. "Why, what are you—" She scanned Deryn head to toe, "You look absolutely awful wearing this tattered old thing!"

Deryn looked down. She hadn't noticed all the scraps missing from her midshipman's uniform. The pants were primarily stained near the bottom. The color had begun to wear away some time ago. "What exactly are you doing here, Lilit?"

"I'm a member. This Society's peacemaking diplomacy stretches to every country ample enough to represent. They said that I'm sufficient enough."

"Oh."

"And now that you're here, I'll have somebody I can talk to." Lilit once again hugged Deryn in a melodramatic fashion, and then pulled away. She patted her hands to rid herself of the dust from Deryn's clothes. "First thing's first. You have to find some better clothes."

"What I'm wearing will be sufficient enough! If you even think that for one moment you can take it upon yourself to stuff me into a corset, that's all a load of clart."

Lilit ignored Deryn's comment and took her by the wrist and brought her into her room. Lilit's room had a flowery lavender wallpaper and a rug to warm the cold floor. Her bed sheets were nicer, and her closet was filled with all kinds of clothes from every day wear to underwear to a few formal gowns and corsets. Not to mention the fact that the room itself was twice as large as Deryn's, and there was a mirror attached to the wall, and a dresser devoted to shoes and accessories lie at the bedstead. The room smelt like light, polished perfume. That was the way Lilit liked it.

"You live here? I thought you were perfectly well off living in America…"

Lilit shuffled through her closet in desperate search for something that Deryn could wear. Deryn was taller than Lilit. Deryn was thinner too, and did not have a figure quite defined as Lilit. "Of course I have multiple places to stay, if my duty calls for it. I like it here. Although, I've not proven to be much of a contribution. I come and go between here and America. Mostly, I just sit in for the meetings and relay to Agha what is going on. There hasn't been much to say. But you, you I'd expect to take an interest in the advanced zeppelins and I'm surprised you're not there right now."

"Zeppelins?" Deryn's eyes widened at the thought of flying again. After all this clart, it remains her calling in life.

"Yes, yes, they've got dozens of them. Each unique. They may or may not be flight capable. They're all just experiments. Pure fragmentations from your lady boffin's imagination…"

"Can you show me where they are?" Deryn interrupted.

Lilit whipped around, curls landing in every direction. "Not in that, Miss Sharp." Lilit said sternly. "Nobody gets what they want more often than a properly-fitted little lady." Lilit said with confidence. "Here, you can wear this." Lilit handed Deryn a casual dress. It was plain, simple and the color of dusk.

Without even giving the matter two seconds of thought, Deryn refused.

"Have it your way then." Lilit gracefully put back all the dresses where they belonged, in their exact order in the closet. She took Deryn by the wrist again and pulled her through the hall and down the stairs.

"Where exactly are we going, you daft girl?"

Lilit smiled. She admired Deryn's quickness in getting to the point. "To the very bottom, of course. Where else would they store all the flying machines?"

"You're making mad sense, here! Are there really any flying devices, or are you just winding me up?"

Lilit laughed. The two of them had to scale through a few doors and passageways once they reached the bottom. Clearly presented and framed through an archway were many different zeppelin-like machines, each grounded at a station. The room was huge. The ceiling stretched high—probably to the top of the earth.

The zeppelins were fastened to the wall, each by its own means. Most were under construction. Some were not even complete. They had gears of unusual size. The engines were all visible. The rears were piloted by some sort of miniature launcher made of rusty old scrap metal barley held together by welding.

"If you ever hope to fly in one of those, you're going to have to wait a few more decades." Lilit leaned in to whisper into Deryn's ear. "All those who've worked on them have gone mad. The head boffins are postponing their operations for now."

"Haven't they got any Huxleys?" Deryn asked. She was still trying to take in all that she saw. She couldn't believe her eyes how big it all was.

"Sure, sure. They've got it all down here. Gotta go to the bottom to get to the top. That's what the boffins always tell the newcomers. If you can figure out the riddle, they'll give you a special reward."

Deryn was only half-listening. Entranced, she reached out to climb aboard the railing of one of the zeppelins. Distraught, Lilit slapped Deryn's wrist.

"You might wind up destroying one. Nobody I know is sure how they work exactly. They're neither Clanker nor Darwinist, so they've got unique electrical and mechanical abilities. No one is the same, either."

Deryn glared at the girl. "Obviously the riddle refers to flying up through the top of this room."

Lilit and Deryn both looked upward simultaneously. "But that's just it. The exit's been sealed off for three years. Nothing else can get in, or out."

"So…what's the point of having zeppelins of they're not going to be used."

Lilit shrugged her shoulders. She did it gracefully, if that was even possible. It was like her to move gracefully even in the most tense of situations.

"Ah, there you are, Miss Sharp."

Lilit and Deryn turned around to see Dr. Barlow with Alek trailing in the rear. "Hello. I hope you don't mind me showing Deryn around."

"Of course not." The lady boffin said quickly. She looked at Deryn with interest. "It was only a short matter of time before you learned about these. You'll want to work on them, I'm sure?"

Deryn nodded excitedly.

Alek parted from the women to leave this room to go to the one next door.

"What else is here? Huxleys, weapons, other beasts? Any other big surprises I should know about?" Deryn asked the lady boffin.

"Huxleys? Yes. They're in a few rooms over. Weapons? No. But I won't be surprised if you find yourself a few beasties within the Society. After all, it is our cover job to make sure they're safe and well-cared for. The majority of the dangerous ones can be found on the surface floor, however, I'd urge you not to go there." The lady boffin nodded respectfully to them. "Good afternoon, Deryn. Lilit." With that, she parted from them.

Lilit fixed her eyes back on her reluctant comrade. "Well?"

"Well, what, you daft girl?" Deryn crossed her arms at Lilit's unwavering stare.

"Aren't you going to do something? It's not like you to just sit back and watch. You've just got that instinctive sense to be the hero."

"My brother Jaspert called it "air sense". And no, I'm not just going to sit back and watch those zeppelins rot. That's a load of clart. I'm going to be the pilot of one someday."

Lilit smiled.