Chapter 11 - The Kraken Gate

We’d managed to negotiate a peppercorn rent for our office from the accountancy firm that owned it. They had moved to Hargreaves Square once their success had outstripped the available space. It consisted of two, poorly-lit rooms on the ground floor, and three smaller rooms on the second. Lockhouse Security couldn’t afford carpets, so we made do with bare floorboards. Dark wooden filing cabinets with brass handles massed against the right-hand wall, only some of which we needed. Ellen and Inigo retained desks near the front where they could set out the mountains of paper that our administration, analysis and research always seemed to generate. The rest of the desks and chairs were stacked against the rear wall, leaving space for an informal working area occupied by three ill-used sofas, their mangy, red covering giving the impression that they’d been owned by a family of exuberant porcupines. The focus of this team discussion area was a blackboard which we assiduously wiped clean at the end of every meeting.

I gratefully accepted the mug of coffee proffered by Inigo and cleared my throat. 

‘Gather round, please. I need to bring you up to speed with the latest developments.’

‘What about Ankush and Ellen?’ asked James.

‘They’ll catch up,’ I said. ‘I figure it’s more important that we talk through the preparations for our journey west.’ James shrugged. He, and the others sat down on the threadbare furniture. Mahkran set off the little brass doorbell and joined us, having finished his work outside. He stood behind one of the sofas with his hands behind his back. I placed a stool at the front, sat with my back to the street then began by sharing the news that we would be joined by a company of marines. It did not go down well. James was especially vocal.

‘Aripole’s teats!’ he exclaimed. ‘The stumps will mess it all up! They’ll get in the way, shit on our plans, and then they’ll try to take over.’

‘James!’ I exclaimed. ‘I was one of them once, remember?’

‘I’m sorry, but you’re not in the marines now. Doesn’t the chancellor think we can do the job on our own?’

‘He’s not the only one,’ I pointed out. ‘Director Harman’s estate in Lannerville has to be at least five times the size of Tellemarch Park, and don’t forget we’re down two team members.’

‘We have no funeral for Ty Rendish or the new boy,’ said Na-Su Kamak, face a mask of disappointment.

‘I know, Na-Su, but we don’t have the bodies either,’ I countered. ‘I promise you that we will hold a remembrance service once we’re in Lannerville.’

‘Maybe we can find the bodies when we go through the gate again,’ said Mahkran. 

A few heads nodded. Even Na-Su perked up at the prospect. I’d heard stories from previous encounters. I didn’t expect there would be much to bring home, whether they’d been attacked by a Charg or caught in the blast, but I kept my thoughts to myself.

‘Look, here’s the deal we have…Lieutenant Scott’s squad look after the grounds, keep the perimeter secure. We’re on the inside; the Koulomb Gate and whatever’s on the other side, alright?’

‘The boss is right,’ said Inigo, who didn’t like wasting time. ‘Without the marines, we’re spread thin.’

‘A perimeter that’s almost eighteen leagues around that needs to be watched twenty-four bells every day. Three, maybe four of us will be going through the gate to take on the Charg which leaves four at most to guard the Lannerville estate.’ Inigo liked his facts and figures, and I liked him because of that. The more information you have, the less personal your decisions are.

‘Exactly. There’s no way we can do it.’

The little bell rang again, announcing Ellen’s arrival. Ankush was moments behind her, meaning the whole team was present. I explained again what had happened last night, whereupon James picked up his complaint again, possibly to impress Ellen.

‘You should have refused,’ he said. ‘Stalling for a couple of weeks would have given us time to recruit our own people.’

Ellen cottoned-on in an instant. ‘Really, James?’ she challenged. ‘This lieutenant is coming with a ready-made squad of trained marines. How long would it have taken us to interview and select a dozen good people? A Meniah-cycle, two? It’s obvious that Connie had no choice. The chancellor would probably have removed us all if she had refused. All we can do is make the best of the situation.’

I had a feeling that James would have argued with me all day, but because it was Ellen, he clammed up. I wanted to express my gratitude to Ellen, but not in front of James. Didn’t want him to think the girls had teamed-up against him.

We talked for a while longer. Ellen confirmed that the overland cargo had all been loaded onto rolling stock overnight and that she and James had the dockets which they would need to take possession at the other end. Working from an inventory of our munitions, Inigo and Na-Su had placed an order for additional stocks we thought we’d need in Lannerville where military hardware and unstable compounds were harder to come by.

‘The additional supplies won’t all arrive at the same time. Land Train Authorities aren’t keen to grant a transportation permit for the explosives.’

‘They run military supplies all the time.’

‘Yes, but we’re not the military, are we?’

‘No, but we’re a registered security firm and we’ve got all the paperwork that says we’re allowed to carry arms and move ordinance.’

Inigo shrugged. ‘They’ll issue the approval in a day or two. Shouldn’t think we’ll need any of those supplies immediately we get to Lannerville.’

‘True,’ I said and turned to the younger Gulreimian brother. ‘Rah Ankush, have you managed to purchase our wet-weather gear?’

‘I have, ma’am.’ He smiled his easy-going smile. ‘We have everything we need to protect us from rain and rising water.’

‘Thank you, Ankush.’

‘What we do not have, Ms. Derringer,’ the Gulreimian went on, ‘is protection from anyone spying on us from the bookshop opposite.’

Inigo asked, ‘Someone’s spying on us?’

I was pleased to note that no-one had moved. Training is important, and in this scenario, it was key to avoid letting on that we knew we were being watched. It was the middle of the day. The opposite side of the street was suns-lit, reflections bright on the panes of glass, so it was hard to make out what was going on. They’ll have a better view of us.

‘Mahkran, did you notice anything unusual while you were out there?’ The incident with the coach in Poplar Square had put me on edge…well, more on edge than usual. During my teenage years, my father had worried that I was too anxious, but I learned to live with it and put it to good use. It had kept me alive on more than one occasion.

‘There was some movement in one of the upstairs windows, ma’am,’ Mahkran replied. ‘I thought it was someone cleaning the room, but now that my brother speaks of it, they did seem to be cleaning the windows for longer than necessary.’

‘What did they look like?’ asked Inigo.

‘Not sure,’ replied Mahkran. ‘Mostly it was movement behind shiny windows. Maybe brown hair, wearing a jacket, brown, no…grey-green.’

‘Anything else?’ I asked.

‘I can go up to the roof and see if I can get a better view…’

‘No, Mahkran. You, James and Ellen need to get ready to catch the train. Are you ready?’ All three replied in the affirmative. ‘Good, then you should go. Don’t forget to buy some food on the way to the terminus. It’s a journey of twelve bells, and that’s if there are no disruptions.’

‘Already done it, Connie.’ Ellen pointed to three large brown-paper bags.

I shrugged off a sense of mild annoyance at Ellen’s relentless efficiency. Ellen had done well, anticipating and organising, so that I had less to worry about. How much worse would things be if my team needed to be mollycoddled every step of the way.

‘Ankush, please try to get to the roof without being seen. The more we can learn about this spy, the better.’

The Gulreimian dipped his head and made for the stairs that climbed to the first-floor balcony. His brother handed him an eyeglass as he went past.

‘Inigo and Na-Su,’ I continued. ‘White Paper Protocol for this office, understood?’

‘Yes, ma’am,’ they replied in unison. Inigo completed the remainder of the code.

‘“Nothing left behind with information about clients, ongoing investigations, payments or employees.”’

‘Exactly.’

I accompanied James, Ellen and Mahkran to the land-train station, as it was en-route to my meeting with Lieutenant Scott. James seemed sullen and, not for the first time, I wondered if he and Ellen were allowing their relationship to get in the way of work. By contrast, she was bubbly, perhaps wanting to compensate for him.

‘I can’t believe I’m finally going to see the Forest of Yesper,’ she enthused. ‘My mother used to read me stories of the first explorers who came to Emberland, and how so many of them came a-cropper.’

‘I read those too,’ I said. ‘I don’t think it’s as savage as those old stories made out.’

‘I know. Most of the explorers were idiots,’ Ellen smiled at me. ‘Almost all of them perished because they failed to prepare adequately. Not enough water, too few provisions, and inexperienced guides. Quite a few of them set out with maps sold to them in taverns for the price of a bottle of brandy.’

It was my turn to smile. ‘You remember Abigail Strong’s book of the Corton Nesbit expedition?’

‘Ha-ha, yes! He was the excitable one wasn’t he? A rangy toff who traded his inheritance for a treasure map.’

‘That’s him. “One Hundred Days in Yesper,” it was called, I think.’

Ellen giggled. ‘His guide and a dozen porters abandoned him when the water ran out. Two of his friends died in a swamp. One-by-one they had to eat their pack mules. Half the remaining men died of The Blackruns! Draxil’s Beard, it was a slaughter.’

‘A bit like our next trip through the portal,’ James cut in.

‘Well now,’ said Ellen, giving James one of her most radiant smiles. ‘Let’s see how things go shall we? There’s a lot more we can do to prepare.’

He gave her an odd look and glanced at me briefly. We’d reached the terminus. We were surrounded by the bustle of earnest passengers and fee-hungry porters. I caught hold of James by the arm and stopped him. He was a large man. My hand wouldn’t even wrap half the compass of his forearm. I may not be the most feminine woman, but James’ bulk was a reminder that I was a long way from being manly. I wondered, as I had on many occasions, what it would be like to possess the training I had, coupled with the solid bones and muscular strength of someone like James. Ellen and Mahkran looked at me. I realised I’d been quiet for a while. For the first time since the office, James was looking directly at me.

‘I know you’re worried,’ I began. ‘We lost two people yesterday and that is terrible outcome. You were friends with Tyrone, as was I, so what do you think he’d want us to do in this situation?’

I let go of James’ arm. Although he accepted Ankush and Mahkran as members of the team, he struggled to relate to them. They were foreigners, outsiders with allegiances enforced on them by their ruler. In addition, he and Inigo weren’t cut from the same cloth. They rubbed along alright, but without the same bravado of brothers-in-arms that he and Ty had shared; that respect and admiration that men can only show for each other through mocking scorn and banter. Like James, Tyrone had been in the merchant marine. Although they’d never met during that time, their experiences of the sea had forged a bond as strong as brig-beetle spit.

‘I need you, James. We all need you,’ I added. ‘But I won’t make you go. If you aren’t happy with the plans on the day before we cross over, you can stay behind. The same goes for everyone else.’

‘I’ll be happier with the plans when they allow us to take weapons through the gate.’

I nodded. ‘So will I. We can take explosives, but I’ll try to come up with more ideas.’ It sounded weak, even to me.

James shrugged. Sometimes you get a flash of deep insight from the smallest gestures, so that’s when I figured it out. He’d been working for me for four years now, but there was still a kernel of resentment that a woman was in charge. Perhaps he felt demeaned. It was still an unusual situation in the Republic. He’d had no choice when we first met, both newly demobbed; me from the marines and him from maritime transportation, both drunk and feeling sorry for ourselves, but me with a little bit of money that I’d saved, and the beginnings of a plan. I wondered if he talked to Ellen about how he felt. Maybe they’d been hoping for some time together on this trip to come up with plans of their own.

I pushed my voice deeper and manufactured a confidence I didn’t feel. ‘I’ve got to go now. I’ve a meeting with Lieutenant Scott at two bells after noon, and some personal business to take care of before then.’ It was nearly eleven bells. Visiting times at the prison were strict. I wouldn’t get in after midday.  ‘We’ll figure something out. See you tomorrow evening.’ And I left them standing on the steps. I didn’t look back; couldn’t show them that I had any doubts. I felt their eyes on my back as I stopped at a newsstand. The Emberland Echo caught my attention.

“Bomb blast rocks Emberly,” the headline barked, and in smaller print,“Nallian saboteurs suspected!”

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