Free Gears of a Mad God: A Steampunk Lovecraft Adventure by Brent Nichols

and
turned, and took a single step back toward the trees. Rick reached
him then, stopping him. Colleen heard the sound of a shot, saw a
flash of red near the trees, heard the whack of a bullet striking
the boathouse. Realizing the men were dangerously well-lit, she
flicked off the lights.
    Carter, his
voice hoarse, panted, "Dirk's still up there!"
    "You can't save
him." There was pain in Rick's voice. "If you go charging up there,
then he's died for nothing."
    Carter tried to
push past Rick. The tall Mountie grabbed Carter's shoulders, hauled
him back, and sent him stumbling toward the boathouse.
    Colleen turned
her back, knelt beside the boat, and gave it a push. As the boat
drifted out she jumped aboard. Maggie had the oars in place, and
the two women took an oar each, ready to pull.
    Carter and Rick
came barreling into the boathouse. The boat was a foot past the
edge of the boathouse now. They ran, jumped, and the boat rocked
wildly as they landed. Parker cried out as Rick landed on his legs.
Water splashed over the gunwales and both men crouched, stabilizing
the boat. Colleen and Maggie pulled hard on the oars and the boat
moved swiftly across the dark water.
    She couldn't
see the cultists as they swarmed into the boathouse, but she heard
their excited voices echoing against the walls. Then a muzzle flash
lit the boathouse for an instant as someone fired into the
darkness. She caught a quick glimpse of half a dozen people crowded
together. There were several more shots, all of them wild. Colleen
and Maggie rowed for their lives, and soon the boathouse vanished
in the darkness of the shore.
    "I didn't
know," Carter murmured. "I didn't know he was staying. The last
thing he said was, 'Let's go!' Then he stayed behind to hold them
off."
    No one replied
as the boat moved deeper into the darkness.

 
Chapter 6 – A Midnight Caller
    The sun was
rising as Colleen and Carter let themselves into Uncle Rod's
workshop. Parker and Jane were in the city hospital, with Rick and
Maggie keeping watch. Carter planned to get a few hours of sleep,
then go back and spell them.
    Not that is was
likely necessary. The hospital was crawling with police. Victoria
had to be one of the most peaceful cities in Canada. Gun violence
was so rare as to seem downright bizarre, and the night's events
had the local police force's undivided attention.
    The team
members had claimed to know nothing. They were innocent bystanders,
injured in passing when half of the Arcadia's crew had
inexplicably gone berserk. The local police weren't entirely
convinced, but Rick's contacts in the Canadian government would
smooth things over.
    Jane wasn't
seriously injured. The doctors wanted to keep her for a day. Carter
had promised that when she was released, he would arrange for her
to be resettled in the United States, somewhere peaceful, somewhere
the cult would never find her.
    Parker's case
was more serious. He was dangerously low on blood. He had undergone
emergency surgery and was resting.
    Carter insisted
that Colleen take Uncle Rod's cot. He already knew from their
earlier search of the workshop where to find a spare blanket, and
he stretched himself out on a rug.
    Colleen lay
down, still wearing her filthy, bedraggled dress. She longed for a
hot bath and clean clothes, but she was afraid to return to her
hotel. So she stared up at the ceiling, thinking of the moment when
the gun had kicked in her hand and a fellow human being had ceased
to be.
    Several long
minutes dragged past. Then Carter mumbled something.
    "What was
that?" Colleen twisted around to look at him. "Did you say
something?"
    "Oh, sorry." He
looked embarrassed. "Talking to myself. Talking to Dirk, actually.
Trying to apologize, not that he can hear me now. I didn't mean to,
you know."
    "Didn't mean to
do what?"
    "To leave him."
Carter sounded surprised, as if his thoughts should be obvious. "We
were always a team. We stuck by each other. He pulled me out of
some pretty tight spots, let me tell