Chapter 32 - The Kraken Gate

It took Ellen and I two days to finish reviewing the paperwork for all of the recent newcomers to Lannerville. During that time, I also managed to write letters to Edgar Finnian’s next of kin. Ty claimed he had no surviving family members, and no one had managed to persuade him to say more on the matter. Over the same two days, the others, with the exception of Na-Su, worked to make the hunting lodge more secure. All of the downstairs windows were boarded up with two layers of ironwood planks. The sitting room’s floor-to-ceiling windows took a long time to protect, reinforced with a framework of beams on the inside. 

Rigsby got wind of what we were doing. He sought me out and complained loudly about the liberties I was taking with his master’s property. I waited until he’d burned himself out, and then showed him the signed authority that Director Harman had handed to me before I left Emberly. It won me the argument, but it was another black mark against my name in the butler’s book. He stomped off, allowing us to complete the alterations.

Even with all the glazing covered up, the sitting room remained vulnerable, so the two doors into the rest of the house were strengthened with more ironwood planks and three large bolts fitted to each so that the room could be isolated from the rest of the house. All four of the larger chimneys in the lodge were all sealed up, and a barricade was set up inside the entrance hall to provide cover and a second line of defence. Ivy that grew rampant against the walls was cut down, as was a sycamore tree that was too close to the upstairs windows.

There were only two entrances to the Koulomb Gate facility in the caverns beneath the lodge. One was in the basement itself and another was in the folly built at the far end of the meadow to the east. Both were fortified with heavy latches and bars on the inside. I spoke with Professor Maddison about the various vents and exhaust points from the steam engines and he agreed to divert two of his technicians to rivet heavy bars across all of the openings we identified.

On the second evening, everyone assembled for the briefing on the subject of the Charg. We walked over to the mansion when our work was complete. There we located the Great Hall which had been designed as a ballroom. The parquet floor spread over an immense area, shiny with years of polish. A knee-high wooden platform stood at one end whose construction Rigsby had grudgingly overseen. Behind the platform stood an immense portrait of Harman’s parents and the three children, all in smart attire, standing in front of a brooding landscape. Thirty marines were present, the other ten being on guard duty, and about the same number of the Koulomb Gate project’s staff were present, some of them new, and some not.

Dr. Millicent Onacar, Harman’s newly recruited hydrologist, had arrived that day. She was sitting in a seat in the front row along with Lieutenant Scott and Captain Banks. She was a short woman, generously shaped, in her early forties with a penetrating gaze and a bob of straight hair that was greying prematurely. She was dressed in an ankle-length, fawn-coloured skirt, and a neatly pressed jacket of the same colour over a pale pink blouse with a high neckline. A gold locket hung from her neck on a slender chain.

Dr. Jenniver Betz was sitting in the the third row. She gave me a conspiratorial wink that I acknowledged with the smallest tilt of an eyebrow that I could manage. Dr. Polonius Evershed was the last person to arrive. The naturalist sauntered into the dining hall with a ready smile under suns-crinkled eyes and a thatch of straw-coloured hair. He was a tall man of prodigious girth that was barely concealed by a khaki hunting outfit festooned with more pockets than anyone could reasonably need. I gave him a wan smile and set the proceedings in motion.

‘Good evening ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for your attention. I am Connie Derringer, head of Lockhouse Security. The learned colleague on stage with me is Dr. Polonius Evershed. I will be brief, but I cannot promise the same of Dr. Evershed.’ A scattering of chuckles met this pronouncement. ‘In truth, we know very little about the creature that we’re calling the Charg, but we believe it to be the principal threat on Ganessa.

‘In case you are not aware, in their search for minerals and precious resources, Professor Maddison and his team have opened their portal, the Koulomb Gate, onto dozens of distant planets, or tried to. Some planets proved impossible to get a steady fix onto. Where a lock was possible, most have proved to be inhospitable, or even entirely incompatible with life; toxic air, extreme temperatures, sub-zero temperatures and ice, widespread lava flows…and other such problems.’ The room was quiet. Everyone was fixed on me.

‘The first planet that Koulomb Gate successfully locked onto that possessed reasonably benign conditions orbits a star named Ganessa. The planet is properly named Ganessa ‘b’, since it is the second of three detectable planets in the system, but no one can be bothered to use the suffix. The two regions visited so far on that planet have running water, vegetation and some wildlife has been seen, mostly small.’

‘What kind of animals?’ asked Dr. Onacar.

‘Things that looked like rodents, insects, those sorts of things, Dr. Onacar, but to answer your questions in more detail, I’m now going to hand over to Dr. Polonius Evershed. This is his area of expertise.’

Polonius Evershed lumbered to the front of the stage. I took the chair he’d just vacated and watched. Evershed was a loathsome man, one of those eternal self-publicists, for whom every opportunity to speak was a chance either to boast about his own achievements, or to denigrate his opponents and peers.

‘Thank you Ms. Derringer, for your charming summary. In point of fact, rodents would imply a mammalian origin, but at this stage, we have little to go on. Some of the creatures seem to have what appears to be fur. That, is all we can say.’

Dr. Onacar raised her hand but Evershed ignored her.

‘Good evening to you all. Indeed, I am Dr. Polonius Evershed. You may have read some of my books; Wildlife of the Faraclough Peninsula, Flora and Fauna Unleashed, Predators of the Nurgian Highlands…’ he tailed off scanning. No one reacted, except Millicent Onacar, who rolled her eyes theatrically.

I wondered if Evershed expected the soldiers to be avid readers of quasi-science travelogues. Harman himself had expressed doubts about the man. “How can a subject matter expert, so dedicated to himself, have any time left for the study of other species?” He had said to me one day. “Still,” he’d continued, “having him along gives credence to the story that we are explorers when the truth is rather more…ah, industrial, in vision.” I tuned back into what Evershed was saying.

‘When Director Harman approached me,’ he was saying, ‘I told him that he should be prepared for the unexpected. Nature, I told him, has a way of springing surprises on us, ha-ha!’

‘What of the Charg, though?’ interrupted Ms. Onacar. The hydrologist had obviously not taken a shine to the naturalist. Evershed shot her a black look, then hauled at the belt buckle that circumnavigated the underside of his stomach.

‘The first time the portal was opened onto Ganessa, there was no sign of the Charg. The landscape was grassland, or an approximation of it, covered in short, succulent fronds of a tired-looking yellow, instead of green. I saw what appeared to be trees and woodland nearby. None of the foliage we’ve found so far on Ganessa is green. The second expedition to Ganessa, we lit upon an entirely different area, full of crags and stony defiles. The only vegetation was low scrub, also a nasty ochre colour. Within half a bell, we caught sight of the first Charg.’

This was what everyone in the room had come to hear about.

‘The portal opened in a narrow valley between two ridges. I was leading the way as our party climbed to the top of a ridge to scout the terrain. That was when I saw it. It was a lone creature, heading along the adjacent valley. From the boulders and mean vegetation it was passing through, I estimated it to be about fifteen hands high. It had the appearance of a kraken on this world; a shapeless head with eight limbs, although it was not always easy to be sure. They appear to combine the limbs when moving, possibly for increased strength. They sort of lope, throwing two tentacles forward on either side while dragging themselves forward on the front and rear pair, then the side tentacles take over, pulling it forward again.’

‘I’ve read about kraken,’ said Millicent Onacar. ‘Their limbs are said to be dexterous, but not rigid or particularly strong.’

‘It was nothing like that. Do not be misled by the word tentacles. The Charg’s limbs are strong, chitinous perhaps. They are, in effect, standing on them as they move forward. And they can move quickly, as we soon found out. We saw that the creature we were watching was stalking a family of deer-like creatures grazing on the scrub and lichen nearby. The Charg’s skin, which was a dull, pinkish colour to begin with, appeared to ripple. Dark blotches erupted all over it and pulsed before settling down into a grey and rocky pattern, giving it the perfect camouflage. It was only because we’d watched it change that we were able to track its movement towards the deer. The herd was wary. They kept raising their heads from foraging, and towards the end, one of them must have heard the Charg approaching. It swivelled its ears and snorted. Perhaps the Charg dislodged some loose scree. At any rate, it was too late.

‘When the Charg was close, it released a cloud of vapour, a pinkish, purplish miasma, that dulled the senses of the deer closest to it.’

‘This vapour is toxic?’ It was Millicent Onacar again, tired of Evershed’s grandstanding. She was a scientist. She had questions and demanded answers. I decided I liked her.

‘Yes. Well, no.’ Evershed was flustered by the interruption. ‘Dear lady, it could be some kind of soporific. We really have no way of knowing until we’ve collected samples. The final moments were over in the blink of an eye. The paralysed deer was barely able to raise its head as the Charg lashed out with one of its tentacles and nearly cut it in half.’

‘Perhaps fear had rooted it to the spot.’

Evershed took out a kerchief and wiped his forehead. He glared resentfully out into the audience, sighting his opponent.

‘You have me at a disadvantage, my lady. Might I know your name?’

‘Dr. Onacar.’

‘I’m charmed, Dr. Onacar, quite charmed,’ said Evershed in a patronising tone. ‘What is your field?’

‘Hydrology, Dr. Watershed,’ said Millicent, now deliberately trying provoke the naturalist.

‘I see, Dr. Onacar. Well, if you had been studying wildlife as long as I have, I would delight in a discussion on the matter. However,’ he continued, ‘the deer knew they were in peril. Those overcome with the gas, remained where they were, in peril and transfixed, while the others startled and ran.’

Benjamin raised his hand. ‘Excuse me, Dr. Evershed.’

‘Yes?’

‘Wouldn’t a poison cloud take several moments to have an effect? The deer would need to breathe it in and then absorb it into its bloodstream.’

Dr. Evershed thought for a moment before replying. ‘The Langslang Viper, native to the Oraman Salt Flats, spits venom into the eyes of its prey, paralysing anything smaller than a boar in a few heartbeats. Who knows what manner of toxin this alien creature produces.’ At the end of this little lecture, the naturalist beamed. He’d rebuffed one challenger, and answered a second.

Furnished with an answer, Benjamin lost interest in Dr. Evershed and posed his next question to me.

‘Ms. Derringer, I understand that it is not possible to transport guns through the Koulomb Gate. Is that correct?’

‘Yes, Lieutenant Scott. No ferrous metals. Everyone is checked before entering the portal chamber. Anything magnetic, or that a magneto will stick to must be removed.’

‘What is your plan to combat this menace?’ Benjamin’s tone was neutral. I sensed no malice in his voice, but the question rankled. The only reason to ask it in this crowded room would be the throw doubt on my leadership. I thought of Na-Su’s special order. I hoped they would be enough. I gave him my best smile.

‘You’re right to be concerned, Lieutenant. Being unable to make use of the weapons we are all familiar with makes this a unique challenge. We have a number of ideas we’re working on. Securing the landing zone on Ganessa will be crucial to the project’s success. We’re planning to build a stockade that we can take through the portal and assemble on the other side. Professor Maddison has authorised us to take dynamite through the gate. In addition, we are expecting the first shipment of custom-designed, non-metallic weapons in the next couple of days, with further more to follow.’

At the precise moment I stopped talking, the doors at the rear of the hall crashed open, admitting two of the marines who’d been on guard duty. They were out of breath. 

‘Airship…’ managed one.

‘Coming in from the south!’ wheezed the second.

There was a moment of silence as everyone weighed up the news. The ‘Malaban Milady’ was needed in the east. Only two other airships existed in the whole of the country. One was owned by a rich industrialist (not Harman), and the other had been purchased by the Council from Nallia during a rare rapprochement last year. By contrast, Nallia had sixty-six airships in active service, all of them owned by the military. This was how the attack on Ripolis had begun.

The undercurrent of alarm became palpable as everyone made for the doors. Chairs toppled and feet were trodden on. I heard Benjamin issuing orders to his men. Evershed lumbered from the stage and joined the crush of people pushing to get out of the door. Inigo and I waited until the room had emptied and followed everyone outside. Dusk was approaching. Ominous cinnabar and blood-red clouds were smeared across the lambent orange backdrop of late suns-fall. About half a league to the south, with one flank illuminated in the flaming colours of the western sky, was the menacing, lozenge-shaped bulk of an airship.

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