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The body wasn’t there when I got to the warehouse. That was the first sign that she was back. I stood looking at the blood stained floor with my arms folded whilst the foreman tried to make excuses, my mind filled with thoughts of her.
“It was the shift changeover and you know what Gerund’s like, a slow change is worse than a time thief.” He tried a smile which I didn’t return. “Anyway, I was only gone for a minute and when I came back it was gone.”

I pulled out my tape and hit play. The spools turned as a voice emerged from the horn, my voice. “Make sure you stay with the body until I get there. I’m on my way.” I pressed stop and returned the tape to my jacket pocket.

The foreman blustered. “You didn’t tell me you were recording. I thought you private peelers kept things quiet. Anyway I’m very sorry but it’s not as if it’s my fault. I didn’t kill the guy.”

“What part of ‘make sure you stay with the body’ didn’t you understand?” I clenched my fists behind my back, trying to remain calm. “And perhaps if you did your job better, he’d still be alive.”

The door to the factory floor opened and for a moment the deafening roar of machinery drowned out all other sounds. The door swung shut again and there he was, Mr Gerund himself, in his immaculate suit and his greasy hair. I raised an eyebrow but said nothing. Why would Hamish Gerund deign to traipse all the way down to his factory floor for a simple accident?

He smiled a sickly grin at me as he mashed his hands together, as if trying to wipe oil from them that just wouldn’t come off. “Hello there, you’re one of the Peelers aren’t you? Not sure why they needed to send one of you lot down here, slow day at the office was it?”

“No sir,” I replied, not rising to the bait. “Did you know him at all?”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Gerund smiled again. “How uncouth of me. You were let go by Mr Peel last year weren’t you? I have a terrible memory sometimes. Lucky I have Sorkins here to look after the place for me, isn’t it Sorkins?”

“Yes Mr Gerund.”

He was playing for time but I couldn’t work out why. All I knew was I wasn’t going to get anything else out of these two. “Well,” I said, taking a final look at the floor. “With no body, there’s no case. Let me know if he shows up, otherwise there’s not much I can do.”

“You could come and work for me,” Gerund said, holding the door open and yelling to make himself heard over the noise of the machines. “A vacancy has just become available.”

I let the door close on his laughing face and made my way through the army of workers slaving away over fusegun barrels. The smell of cordite and electricity hung in the air like lightning waiting to strike. Once I was in the yard, I took several deep breaths, glad to be out in the open.

I could have just walked away, the body was gone, Gerund would have the office floor cleaned in hours, there wouldn’t even be a bloodstain to know it had ever happened. I wondered why they’d called me in the first place. Something about this didn’t add up and I decided there was only one way to find the answers but that would mean waiting around until eight.

I walked out of the yard and looked for somewhere to get a drink. There were two gluebars next to the gunworks, both plastered with Gerund’s face on the windows. It summed him up. What he paid his workers in one hand, he took back with the other, happy to serve them glue whilst seeing no contradiction in evangelising the danger of the demon drink at the pulpit every Sunday in the factory chapel.

I spotted a barrel poking out of the wall down an alley and walked down to find a proper bar waiting for me. Inside was empty apart from the owner who was standing behind the counter and reading a council pamphlet.

“What can I get you friend?” he asked, looking up when I entered. I walked through the sawdust until I reached him, glancing down at the pamphlet as he closed the cover. “What with?” I asked, pointing at the title.

“Huh?”

“Your Council Needs Your Help. What with?”

“Oh. Just the usual rebuilding our island nation from the ashes of the decadent past. I reckon it’ll take more than a few new valves and bigger furnaces to stop us falling to the gutter though.”

I raised my eyebrows. I wasn’t used to such open talk. “Language like that could get you in a Peel cell,” I said as he passed me the pamphlet.

“You don’t look like a peeler to me,” he replied. “Anyway, even if you was, you can’t arrest a man for speaking the truth.”

“You’d be surprised,” I said, climbing onto a stool and flicking through the pages. “Now about that drink.”

I spent the afternoon in the company of the barman. He had an opinion on a lot of things but I couldn’t get a peep out of him about vamps. All he’d say was that they’d never existed and anyone who thought otherwise was a fool. The council had done a damn good job of convincing the world that the vamps were a myth, a ghost story made up to undermine our glorious nation and put decent steamfearing citizens out of kilter. I knew different, I knew just how real the vamps were.

I was fresh out of the academy when I saw one. It was only a fleeting glimpse but it was enough to get me thinking about the difference between what the council said and what might actually be the case. Up until then I’d been a noble and loyal subject of the skyislands, not thinking to doubt that the fathers of the nation knew what was best for us all. The academy hadn’t told us a thing about vamps, two years of apprenticing, six months of that spent trailing experienced peelers and not a mention. I’d been shown how to get my uniform just right, how to attach my wristhook the right way, how best to subdue a riot, how far down to bow when the council came visiting but at no point was I told what to do if I encountered a vamp.

If they had taught me about them I might have done something a bit more useful than just stand there. I’d caught a craterider riding too low at night, no lanterns lit. I waved him to land and to his credit he did. He might be alive today if he’d ignored me and flown off. How’s that for obeying the law? The crate came down about twenty feet in front of me opposite an alleyway. I was marching over, feeling proud as punch at maintaining order on the skyisland when I caught a glimpse of movement from the alleyway. That was all it was, a shadowy flicker and then the craterider was gone. He didn’t even get chance to scream. I was torn between turning on my heels and running or going to see what the hell had happened. In the end the uniform carried me forwards and I made it to the alleyway in time to see the craterider’s body laid out on the floor and a vamp crouched low over him.

I reached for my fusegun but the vamp heard me, standing and moving so fast it was at my side in seconds. I couldn’t move, I couldn’t act, I couldn’t do anything other than stare at it as it looked back at me. The first thing that struck my mind was how beautiful she looked even with blood dripping down her chin. She was definitely a woman, long straight black hair visible even under the hood of her crimson red cloak. She smiled at me and my heart melted at the sight, all fear vanishing from me like the morning mist when the sun finally rose above the edge. She pursed her lips and planted a kiss on my cheek, leaving it smeared with blood before she turned away, scooping the body up into her arms as if it weighed nothing at all. Then she was gone, up over the wall at the far end of the alley, leaving me with a thudding heart and wondering what the hell I was going to tell my superiors.

Nobody believed me when I mentioned it except an ancient sergeant who caught me in the canteen after I’d made my report and sat beside me as I drank gin laced coffee with trembling hands. “All you saw was a body,” he whispered, glancing round at the other peelers to check nobody was listening. “Nothing else.”

“But I saw a vamp!” I pleaded. “And she’s still out there somewhere.”

He scowled at me. “If you want to make it as a peeler, you’ll keep your mouth shut.”

I should have listened to him but I was young and I believed in the value of honesty. I was a laughing stock for weeks, no one was reported missing so they all thought I’d made the story up, thought I’d been drinking hemlock or ardour or something else that had addled my mind. In the end they forced me out and I finished up working as a private peeler, earning a pittance through finding lost dogs and necklaces for the rich.

I looked up at the barman who was reading through the pamphlet again. “What have you heard about vamps?” I asked.

“Same as everyone else. My ma used to tell me if I didn’t get to sleep when she said then the vamps would come and get me. They’re like bloodbirds or nightowls, just stories to scare kids. Why’d you ask?”

“Oh, no reason.”

I changed the subject to the latest steamscraper bump and that got him talking again. He rambled from one thing to the next as I sipped my drink, watching the hour hand grind round on the clock set into the countertop until it finally reached eight. I stood up and thanked him for his time, heading out to the yard to watch the night shift trudging in. Sorkins was deep in conversation with the replacement foreman and it was another ten minutes before he set his lantern alight, pulled down his goggles and climbed onto his steamcrate. It was warming up as I sneaked behind him and latched my wristhook to the lowest railing, crouching down low as it set off, my legs dangling into empty space.

I waited until he was too high to turn back before climbing up over the railings and tapping him on the shoulder. The crate jerked to one side as he almost leapt out of his skin. “Oh my life,” he said, hand on his chest. “You nearly gave me a heart attack. Where the hell did you come from? Hey, I know you, you’re the private peeler.”

I nodded. “And you’re the man who lost a body.”

“Listen lady, I made a mistake okay? I shouldn’t have called you in.”

He turned back to the controls, heading up to his steamscraper as the wind whipped by us both. I leaned back in the railings and waited, people like him always got nervous if there was too much silence. He’d moored the crate outside his window before he spoke again, switching off the engine and turning to face me. “You’d better come in,” he sighed. “But don’t you dare tell Gerund you were here, I need this job.”

“You could always work in the gutter,” I replied as I followed him in through the window.

“Very funny.” He shut the window behind me before pouring himself a drink, sitting on a battered old sofa and flicking on the radio beside him. “Now would you mind telling me why you’re here?”

“Why’d Gerund tell you to forget about the body?”

He sighed and drained his glass before speaking. “I don’t know. He just did. I don’t ask questions of him, I just do what I’m told.” He rubbed his eyes and yawned. “Anything else?”

“Who was he?”

“Who, Gerund?”

“No, the guy who died?”

“Oh, some vagrant up from the gutter, snuck a lift up here. He came in saying he needed to speak to my boss, burst in is more like it. I told him nobody saw Gerund without an appointment and he started getting angry, pacing round the office and muttering to himself. I left him to calm down for a minute, had my boots shined by Jimmy and when I came back he was dead on the floor.”

“Then you called me. Why not the peelers or the autocops?”

“I didn’t want them sniffing around, shutting us down for heaven knows how long. I’d only just read about you in the newsticker that morning, advertising your services. I thought you’d be able to do things a bit quieter, maybe a bit cheaper too.”

I thought for a moment. “Any idea where the body went?”

He sighed. “No and I don’t want to know. All that matters if the work keeps going and one more gutter bum is gone. He could have gone over the side for all I care. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve had a very long day.”

“Don’t you care that there’s a killer somewhere in your factory?”

“A killer? Listen, he probably drank too much ardour and did his heart in, that’s all.”

“Right, that’s all,” I agreed, walking over to his door and pulling it open. “Only one thing troubles me,” I said, looking back over my shoulder.

“And what’s that?”

“I’ve never seen a heart attack leave that amount of blood on a floor.”

I walked out, closing the door on his confused face. As I made my way down the stairwell, I thought hard. Gerund was the key to all this somehow if I could only work out how. Could he have killed the guy? I shook my head. Someone like that wouldn’t get their own hands dirty and anyway where was the body? Of course it was possible it had gone over the side like Sorkins had said but to get through that factory floor with none of the workers seeing and besides I hadn’t seen any blood smears on the floor on my way out. That left me more certain than ever that a vamp had done it.

I reached the atrium and pressed the call button for a night gondola. I ran over what I’d learned so far while I waited but I couldn’t put the pieces of the puzzle together. It was as if I had an empty watch in front of me and a pile of cogs and springs. They all went in there and if they went in the right way the thing would tick as good as new. But how did they fit together? All I could do was think and by the time the gondola took me down to the skyisland below my head was pounding from the effort.

It set me down near my house and I went to pay the driver, noticing how slender their fingers looked as they reached out from under their cloak for the notes. With a rising sense of dread I flicked back their hood and my heart froze. It was her, the vamp. She smiled at me as she took my wrist in hers, an iron grip that I knew I’d never be able to escape from. I thought about reaching for my fusegun but she held it up with her other hand. When had she taken that from my pocket? The gondola was venting steaming quietly as she yanked me past the flowers in my front garden to the door. I was about to tell her it was locked when she held up my key. Was there anything she hadn’t stolen from me?

When the door opened she pushed me inside and shut it behind us. “Are you going to kill me?” I asked, my voice higher than usual, a tremor of panic running through each word.

“No,” she smiled, her voice sounding like warm honey running into my ears. “I just want to talk to you.”

She walked through to the parlour and I turned to run out of the door only to find it had autolocked. Reluctantly I walked into the parlour to find her leaning back in an armchair with her legs crossed. “Won’t you sit down,” she said, acting for all the world as if I were a guest in her home, rather than her an intruder in mine.

“Who are you?” I asked as I sat shaking on the edge of my sofa.

With the flick of her finger, she brought my autoplayer to life, the record spinning slowly as a voice filled the air. I could tell who it was in an instant. It was Gerund talking to someone. “I’m well aware of that and it was unfortunate but you can’t make a skyisland without breaking some heads. No you listen to me, we’ve got a good thing going here and unless you want us both to end up in the gutter I suggest you keep your damned mouth shut.”

I opened my mouth to speak but she put a finger to her lips. The record continued. “You’re not telling me you believe in vamps are you? What are you, a child?” His voice grew louder as he became angry with whoever he was speaking to. “I don’t care tuppence for the life of a bloody guttersnipe waltzing into my place of work to tell me I’m his father. Of course he was lying, what are you trying to accuse me of? Does it matter who killed him? He’s gone, that’s all that matters. The autocops? Of course not, Sorkins was foolish enough to send for a private peeler and she won’t be telling anyone what she saw. Because I am sure, that’s why. Now listen, I will be home shortly and you will have dinner prepared for me and you will smile for our children and we will have no more talk of vamps or guttersnipes, do I make myself clear?”

The needle reached the end of the record and the vamp switched it off before turning to me. “You wished to say something?”

I felt myself shudder at the mere sound of her voice. What was it about her that was having such a hypnotic effect on me? “I…I can’t remember.”

“Then allow me to speak. My name is Sylvia. You don’t know me but I made a promise to your mother a long time ago that I would keep a watchful eye over you.”

I jolted upright as if I’d been slapped. “My mother? Did you know my mother?”

She smiled. “I did.”

“Wh…what was she like?”

“She was a wonderful woman, one of my closest friends and the only person I knew who wasn’t scared of us.”

“What are you?”

“You already know the answer to that.”

“You’re a vamp?”

“I am.”

“But the council said you don’t exist. You can’t be a vamp.”

“Would you believe your own eyes or the word of the council?”

I found myself staring at her lips again. I couldn’t help it, they looked so soft, so red, so…so kissable. As soon as the thought entered my head I found myself blushing. To think of kissing another woman had never entered my mind before and to imagine embracing a vamp was insanity. I’d be killed in an instant. And yet, my eyes would not leave her lips as she continued to talk, each word a balm to my soul and each glimpse of her tongue past those sharp teeth making me think thoughts ever more obscene.

“Gerund is sending someone here tomorrow morning. I will stay with you tonight to protect you and then we shall greet our guest when he arrives.”

“What?” I thought back to the record, my mind continually interrupted by images of Sylvia in my bed beside me, making me frown as I endeavoured to concentrate. “Why would I need protecting?”

“Did you not hear the recording? You know about Gerund’s bastard and even an autocop would eventually work out that he killed the poor guttersnipe if you talked. Better to get rid of Sorkins and get rid of you.”

“But how can you protect me?”

“You will see. Now it is late and we will be up early. Let us retire.”

“Oh, okay. Where are you going to sleep?”

“I am here to protect you, I am not going to leave your side.”

“You mean…?”

She nodded. “Do not worry, I do not snore.”

“That wasn’t what I was worried about,” I said as I walked upstairs with her following, unsure if this was a dream or a nightmare. To think she was about to be in bed beside me, it was unfathomable. We reached the bedroom and she locked the door behind us. I stood there as she looked at me in silence. “Could I have some privacy to undress at least?” I asked, feeling myself blushing.

“You are not to leave my sight,” she replied simply.

“But…” I tailed off, realising there was little point arguing with her. Turning away to my dresser, I tried to ignore the feel of her eyes upon me as I undid my jacket and hung it in my wardrobe. I pulled out my nightdress and laid it over the back of the chair before taking a deep breath. I removed my clothes as quickly as I could, keeping my bra and knickers on to maintain some degree of decorum. Finally I slipped my nightdress over my head, wishing the fabric were less see through as I felt her gaze move up and down my body. I stepped towards the bed but she blocked my way.

“Perhaps you could assist me?” she asked, holding the clasp of her cloak towards me. I nodded and tried to keep my hands still long enough to undo the ties holding it in place. At last it fell away and I looked at her choice of clothing with my eyes widening and my heart pounding. A black dress that clung to her skin in the most revealing way, deep cleavage visible to my wandering eyes and little else other than a pair of sturdy black boots and silver spider necklace. It was intoxicating to look at her and to feel the cold radiating from her pale skin. I shivered and she put an arm round me with concern in her eyes, leaving her hand on my back for a moment too long for it to be casual.

I looked at her, staring into her eyes as she looked back at me. “Could you assist me with removing this cumbersome thing?” she asked, turning away from me. A series of clasps and ties held the back of her dress in place and as I undid each knot, it slid a little looser until it finally fell to the floor. Under the dress she wore nothing and I stared unblinking at the curve of her back, leading down as it did to the most perfectly rounded bottom I could have imagined. I fought the urge to touch her buttocks as she turned back round to face me. “Shall we?” she nodded towards the bed.

I couldn’t speak, my throat dry and dusty as I climbed under the blankets and did my best not to look at her whilst she slipped off her boots and climbed in beside me. “We better leave the lanterns lit,” she said, lying on her side and facing me, an odd look on her face. “At least for now.”

I wanted to roll over and go to sleep but I knew that would be impossible. My heart felt it might explode in my chest at any moment. “I’m scared,” I said at last, the words doing little to describe the turmoil of emotions in my mind. I was terrified of the thought of someone trying to kill me but I also feared for my life beside a genuine vamp. At any moment she might tear me limb from limb, drain the blood from my body. But there were other stirrings within me at the same time, I found myself wanting to lift the blankets to examine her body, wanting to run my hands over her skin, the see if she felt as soft as her lips looked.

“I am sworn to protect you,” she said, beckoning me towards her. She wrapped an arm round my shoulder as I pressed my body to hers and when she kissed my hair I let out a sigh of deep contentment, feeling utterly safe by her side.

“Am I not just food to one such as you?” I asked, my hands clasped by my side to prevent them touching her for I knew if I did so, I might not be able to stop.

“Sometimes,” she whispered, her voice lower as she traced a line with her finger along the most prominent vein in my arm, ending by stroking my wrist and bringing it towards her mouth. She revealed her sharp teeth as she pressed my wrist to her lips. For a moment I was sure she would tear into my flesh but the hunger in her eyes shifted and then she merely kissed my fingers before setting my hand back down. “I have learned to control many of my urges over the years,” she continued. “There is one that I am fighting even now.”

“To kill me?”

“No my dear, not that. But I should not speak of it for fear for frightening you further.”

“Tell me, I must know.”

She was silent for a moment, her hand moving from my shoulder to lightly stroke my back before she spoke again, her voice barely audible. “It is the urge to kiss you.”

I looked into her eyes, unsure if I had heard her correctly. “You…you want to kiss me?”

“I am sorry, I have offended you. I never meant to…”

“No,” I replied, my face inches from hers. “I am far from offended. It’s just…”

I got no further. Something took control of me and I reached over, my lips lightly brushing hers. She blinked as if surprised before pressing her mouth to mine. My tongue brushed over her sharpened teeth as we embraced passionately, my body beginning to heat up, my mind racing. At last I pulled away, fighting for breath as my cheeks coloured, wondering if I’d made a terrible mistake. I lay back and felt tears forming in my eyes.

“What ails you?” she asked, stroking my forehead with her icy cold hand.

“It’s wrong. To want another woman like this, it’s forbidden.”

“I do not care?” she said, turning my head towards hers and planting a kiss on my cheek. I felt my mind swim at the touch of her lips, as if ice cubes were being pressed against my skin and yet her breath was warm when she exhaled onto my neck, nuzzling her way lower, disappearing under the blankets.

I felt her hands on my waist, slowly raising my nightdress as I closed my eyes, my body tensing up, wondering what was about to happen. She planted kisses on my shoulders, my arms, my chest, flicking her tongue between my cleavage in a way that felt incredibly arousing but also somehow comforting. She drew my nipples into her mouth one after the other, her sharp teeth grazing them as she caressed my breasts with her fingers. I sighed loudly as she slowly moved down my body over my bellybutton to my pussy. She spread my legs apart and kissed my left calf, gently running her tongue up towards the core of my being.

When she reached it, she licked the wetness that had formed there, running up to my clit which throbbed with desire. Her icy fingers pulled my labia apart as she delved into me, lapping inside me whilst I fought to remain still, a part of me still terrified that this was a ploy to weaken her victim before she slaughtered me.

When she sucked my clit into her mouth the fear melted away, she was so soft and gentle with me I became more at ease than I had with any man. One finger eased its way into me as she circled my engorged nub, teasing me for minutes on end. She slowly guided two fingers back and forth inside me as she licked me, my whole body burning with desire that couldn’t be contained. “Oh my,” I gasped. “Don’t stop. Keep going. I’m going to…” I fell silent as a bursting cloud of sheer bliss drenched my soul, my limbs twitching and shaking, my clit too sensitive to be touched, my hand jerking her head away from me for now at least. She pushed the blanket from the bed and smiled up at me as I panted for breath, staring down at her with my eyes wild.

“That was amazing,” I gasped, my pussy still twitching as she withdrew her fingers. “Thank you.”

She slid up the bed and came to lie beside me, her arm moving so her hand was again between my legs. We began to kiss as she stroked my clit gently, my hips rocking against her hand, using the touch of her to bring me to a second orgasm a minute later. She kissed my neck when I came, her sharp teeth grazing my skin as I thrashed on the bed until the waves of pleasure had faded away. As I regained control of my body I turned to her, pushing her onto her back. A flash of anger crossed her face, as if instinct had nearly taken over, thinking she was under attack. It vanished as soon as it had come when I reached out and kissed her ear, nuzzling the soft skin there, my tongue flicking around the folds of flesh that I found. I worked my way down her, taking my time, kissing every inch of her body until my lips felt frozen. When I reached her breasts I lingered for as long as I could. “Bite my nipples,” she said. “They are far hardier than human flesh.” I tentatively nibbled on her right nipple with my teeth. “Harder!” she screamed and I pressed down, feeling the hardened skin between my teeth as she let out a groan. “Now fuck me!”

She shoved me down towards her pussy with immensely strong arms, grabbing my hair and pressing my face into her. The smell of her sweet wetness made my own pussy even wetter and I felt my clit ache for attention as I lapped at her juices, my fingers stroking around the entrance to her. The pink flesh that lay there yielded to my touch as I pushed a finger up inside her. “Harder!” she yelled. “Fuck me!”

She grabbed my wrist and showed me the speed she desired. I matched her movements until she let go again and then I was able to lick her clit which was the single warm part of her apart from inside her pussy. As I fucked her with my fingers, she kept hold of my head, her breathing growing heavier until she let out a loud groan. “Keep doing that, go deeper. That’s it. Deeper.” I pushed my finger as far into her as I could, my tongue flicking over her clit as she screamed out loud, “Fuck!” Her whole body lifted from the bed as she came, an orgasm racing through her. My finger was gripped so tightly by her pussy that it made me wince. Her legs crushed me in place as she shook uncontrollably. Her body suddenly felt warm for the first time, colour coming to the surface of her skin as I waited for her to release me.

At last her legs relaxed and I was able to climb back up the bed to kiss her, watching her smile as licked her own juices from my mouth. I sighed happily as she told me to roll over, wrapping herself around me, her pussy pressed against my bottom as she stroked my breasts and nuzzled the back of my neck. I must have drifted off in that position as the next thing I knew there was a tap on my shoulder and I was looking up into the leering eyes of a nightowl. He had a blade pressed to my neck as he licked his lips, his other hand moving to my breast, tugging painfully on my nipples. “Shame I have to kill you,” he growled. “We could have had some fun together. Maybe we still can.”

His hand moved to his crotch and he adjusted himself before reaching out towards my pussy. I scrambled back on the bed as the knife nicked my skin, causing a single bead of blood to appear. “Where you going?” he snarled, kneeling on the end of the bed and grabbing my ankles. I glanced around me, wondering where the hell Sylvia was and then I saw her. She fell from the ceiling like a spider diving onto a fly. In a second the nightowl had let go of me, the dagger forgotten as he reached up to fight off his attacker.

I could only stare as Sylvia’s teeth plunged into his neck. The light faded from his eyes and his arms went limp as she let his body fall to the floor. “Come,” she said, pulling me to my feet. “It will not be long before Gerund learns his hired help was unsuccessful. We must be away by then.”

“Where are we going?” I asked as Sylvia threw clothes at me from the wardrobe.

“To the gunworks of course,” she replied, stopping in her tracks as she noticed the cut on my neck. Her pupils dilated and her mouth opened. Before I could stop her, she had her lips latched around the cut but then she leapt away from me. “Cover the wound!” she snapped, her arm across her eyes. I dressed it with gauze before dressing and only then would she look at me again.

She did not speak for the duration of the journey to the gunworks, remaining silent beside me. I tried to ask if I had offended her in some way but she only muttered that she needed to again learn self control around those weaker than her. I felt rejected by her harsh words and was still dwelling on them when we reached the yard that led into the gunworks. The morning shift was arriving and we mingled with them, somehow getting past the autocops without them spotting us for who we were.

Once inside we separated from the workers and made our way to Gerund’s office at the very top of the building. His door was covered in frosted glass and through it we could make out his shadow behind a desk and the shape of two peelers stood before him. Sylvia motioned me to keep quiet as voices echoed out towards us. “My foreman dead you say? Well that is awful news, simply awful.”

“We wondered if he had any enemies perhaps?”

“Not that I can think of. No wait, there was a woman here yesterday speaking to him, a private peeler I believe.”

“Do you know what they were talking about?”

“No idea I’m afraid. Now I must get on, I have a factory to run.”

“Of course sir. We’ll let you know if we hear anything.”

The peelers turned towards the door and I panicked but Sylvia threw her cloak over us both and when they emerged, somehow they didn’t see us, passing by and heading down the stairs whilst talking to each other. Before the door could close we were in Gerund’s office but he wasn’t there. The window was open and as I looked out I caught sight of a steamcrate heading into the distance.

“Look at this,” Sylvia said, holding up a note that had been left on the desk.

‘We’re all shooting stars but some of us forever lie in the gutter. - HG’

“We must get after him,” I said, running for the door. Sylvia grabbed my arm and turned me towards her. “What? What is it?”

“Nothing,” she smiled, planting a kiss on my lips. “I just wanted to do that before we went.”

We ran out of the factory and grabbed the nearest steamcrate. Sylvia adjusted the dials until it rumbled into life, rising up above the gunworks and then moving over the edge. She yanked at a lever and then we began to head down towards the gutter. As we descended into the fogbank that covered the surface I turned and kissed Sylvia again.

“What was that for?” she asked.

“In case we don’t make it back alive.”

“Oh. In which case you better kiss me again.”