Chapter 38 - The Kraken Gate
I was standing on the first-floor balcony overlooking the lake as my shift ended. It was Ranvaday. Draxil was rising with Aripole a thin crescent of fire behind him. Temperatures were waning and would only climb again when she re-emerged. The north-westerly breeze had already had a precise, clipped feel to it, while the bank of clouds that hunched on the horizon looked swollen with rain, or maybe sleet. Wintersole was getting its claws into Lannerville.
The Koulomb Gate would reopen tonight. I would be going through the gate with three of my team, Benjamin, Captain Banks and two more of the marines. A reconnaissance trip only; that was the agreement with Director Harman.
‘You should try and get some sleep,’ said Inigo, when he came to relieve me. He was managing the open space well enough now, but refused to approach the stone balustrade. He was wearing one of those sheepskin-lined leather flying jackets that were all the rage; a national obsession with all things airship related. It looked warm and made me wish I’d had one during the darkest bells of the night.
‘Yes. I should, but I don’t think it’ll happen.’
‘Head too busy?’
‘I guess so.’
‘What more preparation could we do? We’ve trained with Na-Su’s new weapons, Lieutenant Scott’s men are patrolling the grounds and the failsafe is in position.’
‘I don’t understand why Director Harman is in such a rush,’ I said. ‘Whatever we do tonight, and however well the exploration of Ganessa goes, it will be many cycles before the benefits will start to trickle through.’ Inigo turned to me.
‘It could be he’s hoping to find leverium. Then we could build our own airships.’
‘Even if there is leverium on Ganessa, it needs to be brought back in quantity and refined. And in the meantime, the navy doesn’t have the airships to make use of it.’
‘Didn’t the Council give huge sums of money to some industrialist to build an airship factory in Underwold?’
‘You’re right,’ I conceded. ‘But it feels like there’s something else going on…something the old man isn’t telling us.’
‘Maybe his money’s running out.’
I laughed which set Inigo to chuckling too. ‘Now that’s much more likely.’
We both looked at the clouds shredding into wispy lines as they skimmed the Caddrian highlands.
‘I wonder what sunsrise looks like on Ganessa?’ said Inigo. Today, we would finally get to see it for ourselves.
‘Sunrise,’ I corrected. ‘There’s only one sun.’
‘Oh, I don’t like the sound of that. Is it dark?’
‘It isn’t. Professor Rennie told me that Ganessa’s star is as bright as Draxil and Aripole combined.’
Inigo nodded, but I could see his mind was on something else.
‘Are you going to be alright, out in the open?’
‘Yes. I’ve got a handle on that. It’s defending the gate that worries me now. I don’t want to die on a distant world.’
‘Don’t worry. We know much better what to expect this time. Also, we don’t need to stray from the landing spot. Today’s mission is to secure the area. Exploration parties will only set out once that’s done.’
‘Sure.’ Inigo smiled. ‘Well, if you’re not going to sleep, you’d better go get some breakfast. They’d just begun cooking when I came through the kitchen on my way here. It smelled great, but it wasn’t ready. All I got was a bread roll and some cheese.’
I took Inigo’s advice and helped myself to porridge in the hunting lodge’s staff dining room. Because we had boarded up all the ground floor windows, all except for small openings near the top, the room was dingy. A dozen oil lamps helped to supplement the meagre light. A table of scullery boys and maids were squeaking and giggling over their bread and cheese. Not far from me, the senior household servants were in a more sombre mood. I overhead the word conscription a couple of times. It seemed that the whole peninsula, of which Ripolis was the major city, had fallen to the Nallians.
‘Hello, Connie.’ It was Ellen. She had some toast and a boiled egg on a plate.
‘Good morning, Ellen. You look lovely, as ever.’
‘Thank you. So do you.’
‘I doubt that,’ I snorted. ‘These night shifts are a lot harder than I remember. I feel grimy and my eyes are itching. I must be getting old.’
‘You’re very hard on yourself Connie.’ Ellen sat and began buttering her toast. She looked at me for a moment and smiled with genuine warmth. ‘At least the bruises have gone.’
‘Well, that’s good. For a while there, my neck looked like an experimental canvas created by an artist from the Riotous Movement.’ We both laughed at that. ‘How are you feeling?’ Ellen was a planner and logistician. She was in her element in the run-up to something like this; checking details, researching, cross-referencing and general administration. She liked it a lot less when the action started. She was petite, and although that would not have prevented her from becoming an effective brawler, or a crack shot with a crossbow, she showed no inclination to contribute when things got messy. I had no problem with that. She was a clear thinker, and I’d been grateful on more than one occasion for her contributions, detached as they were from the heat of the battle.
‘I should be asking you that,’ she replied. ‘I don’t know how you do it. The idea of stepping through that thing onto a different world…’ Ellen shuddered.
‘I heard that when the railway was still quite new, lots of people were too terrified to travel on it…thought it was unnatural. Some people thought that our lungs wouldn’t work properly at those speeds, and some even believed that the human body would liquify if it was rattled too fast.’
Ellen smiled at the absurdity. Behind her, the housekeeper had gone over to have some words with the scullery children. They stood from their benches and filed out. Suddenly the room was a lot quieter. I lowered my voice to a murmur.
‘What happens here worries me just as much as whatever we have to face on the other side,’ I said. ‘There are two-hundred and fifty people on the estate at the moment any of whom could be a traitor, and there are more outside the walls who may well be planning to join us with murderous intent.’
‘Two-hundred and forty-nine on the estate,’ Ellen said. ‘But don’t worry. The number fluctuates as staff take leave or visit sick relatives in town…that kind of thing.’ Ellen finished her egg and toast and wiped the corner of her mouth with a napkin.
‘We’re good at this, Ellen, but the more we have to do, the greater the risk of someone slipping through. All it would take is one person with a small bomb.
‘All this work will have been for nothing,’ acknowledged Ellen.
‘I need your eyes watching what goes on this side.’
‘Fine,’ she said, brisk and businesslike. ‘The marines will have to patrol the grounds without our help while you’re on the other side. Ankush, Na-Su and I will look after the machinery.’
‘That’s a great idea!’ I said. ‘Why don’t you break the news to Lieutenant Scott.’
‘Why? Are you two still not on speaking terms.’
‘We are. You could call it enforced professional politeness.’
‘You never told us why he got you court martialed.’
‘That’s because I don’t know.’
‘Really?’ exclaimed Ellen. ‘After all this time you still don’t know!?’
‘To further his career? How should I know?’ I stood and took my tray to the hatch, feeling angry and knowing it wasn’t directed at Ellen. Benjamin had tried to visit me while I’d been awaiting trial. I’d refused to leave my cell to listen to what he had to say.
‘Connie, maybe he’s been trying to find a way to get close to you all this time.’ Ellen followed me to the bottom of the stairs. ‘Maybe it’s still eating him up inside and this is his big chance to explain what happened and beg for forgiveness.’
I stopped and looked at Ellen. 'Huh! He can beg until Aballas comes back, but I won’t forgive him.’
Ellen shook her head sadly. ‘You know, you can be so damn stubborn! Your position would be a lot more tenable if you really knew all the details.’
I sighed. ‘As usual, you’re right, Ellen, but I don’t want to discuss this now. I don’t want emotions getting in the way of my job.’ I turned to go, but Ellen stopped me, holding my hand down on the newel post.
‘Are you sure…’ she said, insistently, ‘that that isn’t exactly what you’re doing? I’ve seen the way you two are together.’
I stared at Ellen for a moment, beaten into silence. Finally, I pulled my hand away. ‘I’m going to freshen up,’ I said, and headed up the stairs.
Comments
Post a Comment