A throbbing pain at the base of Twist's neck came to him before anything else. The cold came next, and the shivering of his body. After some effort, Twist managed to open his eyes. A field of dull, deep green met his vision, as blurred shapes moved in the foggy darkness. Blinking brought the shapes into focus. Large, silver fish swam before him, through thick, murky, heavy green water.

  Twist sat upright quickly, for an instant afraid that he was drowning in the sea, a scream escaping his lips. His voice came out clearly, and air returned to him without effort. Twist turned to look around him, taking in his surroundings with more coherence.

  He was alone in a small, dark, metal room. A huge glass window filled the wall before him, showing a great depth of water outside. Twist, although drenched to the bone, seemed to be unharmed. He had been left lying on a stiff but soggy couch, and his pockets were empty. His first thoughts went to his watch, and a true fear broke to life in his heart. Looking about the room, Twist saw no sign of it. There was a metal door with a large valve-like wheel in the center of it, closed against the wall opposite the window, and a number of brass tubes hung out of the ceiling beside it.

  Twist got to his feet, but found his legs weak and unsteady. He made his way slowly to the door and tried to pull it open to no avail. It seemed to be locked from the other side. Out of breath now, he pressed his back to the wall and let his legs go limp as he slid down to the floor. His fingers curled tightly in his damp hair, and Twist closed his eyes to shut out the world. Utter confusion and total despair pounded heavily in the pain at the back of his head, threatening to swallow him whole. When losing his watch to the depths of the sea surfaced in his boiling thoughts, Twist felt his eyes begin to sting with tears.

  The sound of strained metal came suddenly from the door, and Twist looked up to see the wheel spin on its own before the door swung open. A large man with dark skin and a long nose came into the room and looked around before his dark eyes fell on Twist.

  “Ah, it's awake,” the man said, in a thick accent Twist had never heard.

  “Where am I?” Twist gasped to ask him. “What's happening?”

  “You're under the Caspian Sea, little one,” the man said. He came into the room as he spoke, flanked on either side by two even larger men with mirthless, expressionless faces. One of them closed the door behind them. “We found you floating near the surface, half dead. We brought you on board and got you breathing again.”

  “I stopped breathing?” Twist asked quickly.

  The man laughed lightly. “You just about drowned, little one.”

  “Well, thank you,” Twist said, smiling up to his savior. “I owe you my life.”

  “That you do,” the man said, smiling back. “Where are you from? England?”

  “Yes, London,” Twist said, trying to get himself back onto his feet.

  “Are you worth anything?” the man asked pleasantly.

  “I'm sorry?” Twist said, still leaning heavily on the wall but relatively upright once again.

  “About how much would someone pay to get you back?” the man asked.

  “You mean, as a ransom?” Twist asked, his heart beating faster.

  “There's a good boy,” the man said with a wide smile. “How much can I get for you?”

  “Well,” Twist muttered, fear and confusion burning to life once again as he considered his situation more clearly. “I mean, I don't really … I don't have any family.”

  “Friends then?” the man asked, still pleasant as ever. “An employer maybe?”

  “No,” Twist said darkly. “I'm alone. No one would pay anything for me.”

  “Oh, that's too bad,” the man said with feigned pity. “No friends at all,” he said to one of the two thugs. “Are you sure, little one?” he asked Twist.

  “No one even knows that I left London,” Twist said. He was surprised by how quickly his anger grew. “There isn't anyone for you to rob on my account.”

  “Well, then” the man said, taking a breath. “Welcome to the crew. I hope you're stronger than you look, because I need another boy in the engine room.”

  “Wait!” Twist said, holding up his hands as one of the two thugs reached for him and the other opened the door. “I don't want to join your crew!” he spat, moving away from the thugs.

  “This just isn't your day,” the leader said, shaking his head. “Throw him in with the coal,” he told the thugs.

  “Don't touch me!” Twist screamed, jumping away from them and into the dark, damp metal hallway outside the room.

  “You really don't seem to understand,” the leader said, following as his thugs continued toward Twist. “You fell into my hands, I saved your life, and I own it now.”

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  “I'll do what you want,” Twist said quickly, backing away. “You don't have to touch me. I'll go wherever you want. Just tell me where.”

  The two thugs stopped and looked to their leader for orders. He considered Twist for a moment and then shrugged.

  “Fine, just get him to the boiler,” he said, waving them on.

  “That way,” one of the thugs said, pointing.

  Twist did as he was told, walking through the tight, damp, metal hallways with the two thugs at his back. Steam burst out of valves and pipes here and there. Innumerable conduits and complex structures of pipes covered most of the walls. Twist pulled his arms tight against himself, trying desperately not to touch anything in the dark and cramped spaces.

  Strong heat and a deep, rumbling sound grew louder as they walked, until the tightness of the hallways opened onto a large room filled with piles of black coal. The face of a huge boiler—easily three times the size of the one on the Vimana—filled the far wall. One young boy, not possibly older than fifteen, stood in the piles of coal with a shovel. He looked up when Twist walked into the room and his dark eyes widened.

  The boy said something with a shuddering voice, in a language strange to Twist, and he backed away holding his shovel up defensively.

  “He's just English,” one of the thugs said. “Get back to work, and show him how.” With that, the two thugs left the room and slammed the heavy metal door behind them.

  “English?” the boy asked, moving closer to Twist cautiously. “I've never seen an Englishman so pale...” he muttered, reaching out a hand to Twist's face. “No one alive, anyway.” The coal stains on the boy's face had masked his features, but up close they looked totally foreign to Twist. There was an accent similar to the leader's in his voice as well.

  “I'm alive,” Twist said, backing away from him. “I assure you. Though,” he paused, looking around, “I'm not so certain that's a good thing right now.”

  “It must be better to be alive,” the boy said softly. “Even here.” He shook his head and put on somewhat of a smile. “I'm Halil,” the boy said, holding out a hand. “What's your name?”

  “Twist. Nice to meet you,” Twist said nodding slightly but not accepting the handshake.

  Halil looked at his hand as if to see what was wrong with it. “Don't Englishmen like to shake hands?”

  “No, it's—” Twist said quickly. “I don't. I'm sorry.”

  “Doesn't matter,” Halil said with a shrug. “How'd you get on board? Are we near the surface again?” he asked, his eyes going wide with wonder.

  “Surface...?” Twist toned. He shook his head to clear his thoughts. “I'm sorry, I don't remember exactly how I got here. One moment I was on an airship, and then I woke up…here. Where are we, anyway?”

  “Welcome to the Hazar,” Halil said flatly. He wiped some of the coal dust from his forehead with the back of his hand as he looked around at the room. “It's a metal ship that travels deep under the water. I haven't seen the sky in many months. I'm not sure you and I ever will again.” Twist swallowed his uneasy fear at the boy's words.

  “Who were those men?” Twist asked, looking back to the closed door.

  “Pirates,” Halil said.

  “More pirates?” Twist gasped, exasperated. “I'm sick to death of pirates!”

  A loud siren bellowed off the metal walls. Twist looked around for the source, his hands over his ears, but the sound died again before he could find it. Halil immediately started to shovel coal into the small, glowing hole in the front of the boiler.

  “Hurry,” he said as he worked, “there are more shovels over there. Take one and help me. That sound means they want more speed. If they catch you not working, they'll beat you.”

  “Oh, this is not on,” Twist said to himself as he searched for a shovel. He found one and fell into rhythm beside Halil, shoveling. “I get taken halfway around the world by pirates. I get attacked and thrown off an airship by pirates. Now I'm turned into a coal-shoveling slave by pirates. I'm not having it anymore!”

  “You can't escape,” Halil said in a hushed tone, stopping to stare at Twist in fear. “They'll beat you.”

  “Only if they stop me,” Twist said, pausing in his work as well.

  “They will,” Halil said, nodding quickly. “No one escapes. If you try more than once, they kill you! Besides, we're under water. How can you get out?”

  “I'll wait until the ship is on the surface,” Twist said.

  “They lock up the slaves before they go anywhere near the surface,” Halil said. “And at night too, when everyone goes to sleep.”

  “And they keep you here otherwise?”

  “Well, yes,” Halil said. “There are other slaves too, but I only see them at night.”

  “Then that's when I'll escape,” Twist said. “When they come to get us.”

  “But you…you can't!” Halil said, clutching his shovel fearfully.

  “I'm not spending my life in this horrible place. I'm going to Nepal, I'm going to save her, and then I'm going home. That's final.”

  Halil stared at him in fear and wonder, his mouth open but silent. The siren bellowed again, for longer this time. Halil turned with a frightened yelp and redoubled his efforts to shovel the coal into the boiler.

  “Wait, no,” Twist said, staring at the rumbling, bulging, furious steam engine. “Stop shoveling.”

  “But they'll—“ Halil began.

  “Beat us. Yes, I know,” Twist said. “Just stop. They'll come in here if we don't do what they want, right?”

  “Yes. And they'll bring things to beat us with.”

  “Just wait,” Twist said, watching the door but standing close beside the metal face of the boiler. He held his shovel in one hand, and held his other hand close to—but not yet touching—the engine. “Do you know the way to the bridge of this ship?” he asked Halil over his shoulder.

  “I think it's forward, on the level above us,” he said. “I've only been there once.”

  “Lead me there, and you can come with me back to the surface,” Twist said. “But whatever you do, don't touch me. Not for any reason. Do you understand?”

  “No,” Halil said instantly.

  Twist smiled back at him. “Can you do it anyway?”

  The siren bellowed for a long moment as the two stared at each other. Halil finally nodded to Twist, clutching at his shovel but remaining still.