Heart of Steam & Rust (Empires of Steam and Rust) Read Online Free PDF Page B

servant.”
    He nodded wistfully, and Lina felt pleased that she had judged the late girl’s character correctly from so little information. She didn’t need any more slip-ups around Pyotr.
    “You still don’t remember what you had discovered before you were shot?” he asked.
    “Sadly, no. Have they discovered any clues in the rocket attack on my apartments?”
    Her aide shook his head, looking grim. “Nothing, so far. If you were hoping Poruchik Yakov would turn up the would-be killer quickly, I’m afraid you may be disappointed. His team scoured all the surrounding blocks, but found no signs either of the culprit or from where the assassin launched his attack.”
    “Unfortunate. It seems our would-be killer may be an invisible man.”
    “General Bepov would give his eye teeth for one of those.” Pyotr chuckled and turned the car onto one of the broad avenues running parallel to the Moskva river. “I fear, Captain, that this may fall to you. You’ve found people who didn’t want to be found before. Remember the case of Nikodim Gudanov? He’d still be plotting bombings from his lair in the sewers if not for you.” As he laughed at the memory, she picked it from his mind.
    “And now he’s just another dead enemy of the state,” she replied, thinking.
    “One of a long list of your services to Mother Russia. Don’t worry about this case too much, Captain. You found this traitor once already. I’m sure you can use your skills to divine his location again.” He brimmed with confidence in her supernatural abilities.
    She hated to disappoint him, but she felt all at sea at the moment. Though she couldn’t ask directly, she desperately needed his help if she was to survive another attempt on her life. Of course, she could mentally force him to assist her, but perhaps there was an easier—and more persuasive—way.
    “I could find the assassin eventually, of course,” she said, “but the destruction of my apartments was a severe setback. Some of the equipment—the implements of my craft—lost in that explosion will not be easily replaced.”
    “I—I hadn’t considered that.” The pang of his empathy was so palpable that she almost pitied him.
    “Don’t bother yourself about it, Pyotr.” Even if she had the old Lina’s mystical equipment, she wouldn’t be able to use it, of course. But finding the assassin remained a paramount concern. After all, she couldn’t return to her own world if she was slain in this one.
    But how to find the killer? She couldn’t crisscross Russia at random, mind-reading the whole country. Any predictable, grid-like search would assure that the assassin found her on his terms—again—rather than on her own. Lina needed to avoid that at all costs. Next time they met, she needed to have the upper hand, or she would wind up as dead as her doppelganger.
    She rubbed her temples to ward off a burgeoning headache.
    Again, an empathetic stab of concern from Pyotr. “Perhaps if we re-traced your final steps,” he suggested, “it might jog your memory.”
    Or allow her to rediscover whatever had led her counterpart to the traitor in the first place. “Yes,” she agreed. “A fine idea, Pyotr. If only my memory of where I was attacked were more clear...”
    He brightened, practically beaming. “I have good news on that front. I’ve spent the time since you were ... injured … in reconstructing your steps. I believe I have a fairly good picture of what you did and where you went, aside from a few details—especially in the final hours before you were attacked.” He was watching her carefully in the Orlovich’s rear-view mirror.
    She smiled and felt the pleasure that gave him. “A good suggestion, Pyotr. Where do you suggest we start?”
    “Vilnius.”
    “Where I was shot.”
    “It seems best to pick up the trail near where it ended.”
    “My memory of that is sketchy at best.” Non-existent, in fact, aside from what she gleaned from him and the others she’d