Men at Arms (Discworld 15)

'Understood. But once a gonne has been invented, Leonard, how much of a genius need someone be to make the second one?'

'The rifling technique requires considerable finesse, and the cocking mechanism that slides the bullette assembly is finely balanced, and of course the end of the barrel must be very . . .' Leonard saw the Patrician's expression, and shrugged. 'He must be a clever man,' he said.

'This city is full of clever men,' said the Patrician. 'And dwarfs. Clever men and dwarfs who tinker with things.'

'I am so very sorry.'

'They never think.'

'Indeed.'

Lord Vetinari leaned back and stared at the skylight.

'They do things like open the Three Jolly Luck Take-Away Fish Bar on the site of the old temple in Dagon Street on the night of the Winter solstice when it also happens to be a full moon.'

'That's people for you, I'm afraid.'

'I never did find out what happened to Mr Hong.'

'Poor fellow.'

'And then there's the wizards. Tinker, tinker, tinker. Never think twice before grabbing a thread of the fabric of reality and giving it a pull.'

'Shocking.'

'The alchemists? Their idea of civic duty is mixing up things to see what happens.'

'I hear the bangs, even here.'

'And then, of course, along comes someone like you—'

'I really am terribly sorry.'

Lord Vetinari turned the model flying machine over and over in his fingers.

'You dream of flying,' he said.

'Oh, yes. Then men would be truly free. From the air, there are no boundaries. There could be no more war, because the sky is endless. How happy we would be, if we could but fly.'

Vetinari turned the machine over and over in his hands.

'Yes,' he said, 'I daresay we would.'

'I had tried clockwork, you know.'

'I'm sorry? I was thinking about something else.'

'I meant clockwork to power my flying machine. But it won't work.'

'Oh.'

'There's a limit to the power of a spring, no matter how tightly one winds it.'

'Oh, yes. Yes. And you hope that if you wind a spring one way, all its energies will unwind the other way. And sometimes you have to wind the spring as tight as it will go,' said Vetinari, 'and pray it doesn't break.'

His expression changed.

'Oh dear,' he said.