Chapter 50 - The Kraken Gate
Ellen seethed. ‘He threatened you?’
‘He threatened us all really.’
We’d converted the hunting lodge’s library into our war room. It was dingy because its windows had been boarded up, with only a narrow opening near the top that let in daylight. Lamps, provided by one of the housemen did little to offset the gloom. The staff had also brought us a small repast of soup, bread and cheese which made it hard for me to focus on the conversation until I had two platefuls heaped in front of me. I don’t recall ever being so ravenous. I tried to eat with some decorum while the conversation went round the room, but it wasn’t easy.
‘I never liked that man,’ complained Ellen. ‘I didn’t vote for him in the last election and you can be damn certain I won’t next time around.’
‘Oh, you’re not going to vote for that lowlife Caulkson, are you?’ growled James.
I wiped soup from my mouth. ‘Sorry to nip your political debate in the bud, but can we talk business?’ I didn’t wait for an answer. I was angry that we were on the back foot, and I was annoyed with Chancellor Gordon’s bully-boy tactics. ‘I believe that an attack is imminent, here on the estate. If you follow the progression so far; Emberly, the air-train, the hit men in Lannerville, and if you believe that someone was spying on us two nights ago when the chancellor arrived, then the logical conclusion is that we can expect trouble.’
‘I agree,’ said Ellen, ‘but who, or what is their target?’
‘That’s easy,’ James replied. ‘They’re after the boss… you, Ms. Derringer.’
‘They want Lockhouse Security out of the way,’ I corrected. ‘It’s just easier to go for the head of the snake.’
‘But what do they want?’
‘I know,’ said Na-Su. She looked up from a piece of paper she’d been scribbling on. ‘They want to destroy Koulomb Gate, or maybe capture it.’ Everyone nodded. Na-Su’s answer was the obvious one, but it needed to be stated.
Inigo cleared his throat. ‘Perhaps a better question is, who is behind the attacks?’
‘Nallia,’ Ankush replied, to which Mahkran nodded.
‘Until today, I wouldn’t have ruled out Chancellor Gordon, but as annoying as he is, he does appear to recognise the importance of the gate for Emberland’s future. I don’t think either he or the Council want to destroy it.’
‘That’s not what I meant,’ said Inigo. ‘What I meant to say was that there’s a traitor close to us. Don’t you agree?’
Inigo was right, of course, but it was painful to acknowledge. Ellen looked at me. I knew what she was thinking. We’d worked hard at the vetting, but the facts spoke for themselves. Whoever ordered the attacks had known my address, they’d known which air-train I had been booked on, and I didn’t think it was an accident that they were nearby when the chancellor’s airship landed.
‘We’ve never been so thorough,’ said Ellen, vehemently.
Inigo’s face carried regret. ‘We’ve never had so many to do.’
‘We?’ exclaimed Ellen. ‘Maybe next time, you can help out some more. You’ve done none of them since we got here. Connie and I had to do all the Lannerville staff and the army boys.’ She was angry now. She and Inigo worked well together most of the time, but Ellen hated Inigo’s swagger. She was book-smart, and she’d never been able to understand how Inigo knew so much. He was street-smart, which was just another way of saying lazy, or lucky, as far as she was concerned. Inigo made a placatory gesture.
‘Hey, I’m not criticising. Maybe there’s someone else on the estate that we haven’t heard about.’
‘Please,’ I interrupted again. ‘Let’s not argue. This is a tough job at the best of times, and this is our toughest assignment to-date, but we can do it. As usual, we just need to break the problem down into manageable pieces and deal with them one-by-one.’
‘What do you mean, boss?’ asked Ankush.
‘I’m fed up with being hunted. It’s time we turned the tables and did some hunting of our own.’
‘You mean we look for these intruders?’
‘No. We’re going to try and identify who the traitor is. Inigo?’
The former gang leader smiled. This was the kind of thing he excelled at. You don’t last long in the underworld if you don’t know your friends from your enemies. ‘Have any of you heard of honey pot traps?’
‘I am beginning to understand,’ Mahkran nodded. Guile and subterfuge did not come naturally to Gulreimians who preferred matters to be more straightforward. For centuries, any enmity or dispute among Gulreimian people had been resolved with a simple challenge; their men fought with scimitars, the woman with knives. Either side could surrender with honour, but more often than not, one of the protagonists ended up in the ground. Either way, the matter was always deemed to be resolved in favour of the winner and would never be mentioned again.
Inigo stood and walked over to the bookshelves. He picked a book off at random. ‘There are two-hundred and fifty people on the estate, give-or-take a few, so it will be nigh-on impossible to catch the traitor straightaway. What we need to do is help ourselves by narrowing down the list of suspects.’
‘Alright,’ agreed Mahkran. ‘How is this done?’
‘How would you group everyone here?’
‘Us, the marines, Professor Maddison’s team and all the staff?’
‘Exactly,’ said Inigo. ‘But let’s assume that none of us is the traitor,’ he added, looking at me.
I nodded. I wasn’t about to let paranoia dent the faith I had in my team.
Inigo chose two more leather-bound books and brought all three back to where we were sitting. ‘Have you seen these before, Rah Mahkran?’ The Gulreimian shook his head. ‘So you have no idea what’s in them.’ Again, Mahkran shook his head as Inigo handed the books out; one to Na-Su, one to Ankush and one to James.
‘Now suppose you urgently need to know which of these three people is in possession of the book on the history of Caddria. You are not allowed to ask them any questions because they have no wish to help you, but you do know that they are duty bound to return their books to the library. What do you do?’
‘I watch the library and see who returns their book to the history section, but I’m not sure I understand how that relates to our problem.’
‘It’s not the best analogy,’ Inigo admitted. ‘But hear me out. Na-su, Rah Ankush, Mr. Dunn, would you check the title of your book and return it to its proper section.’ All three got up, located the place where their books belonged and slotted each back onto the correct shelf. ‘We are going to offer up three very juicy targets via each of the three groups that Mahkran mentioned earlier. Our traitor is in one of those groups. Whichever target is hit tells us which group our traitor is in.’
I thought that Mahkran would deem this trick too dishonourable, but he actually clapped. ‘Now we just need those targets.’
‘It shouldn’t be too hard if the aim is to destroy the Koulomb Gate.’
The Gulreimian thought for a moment. ‘Most of the machinery is below ground. Am I correct? All except the observatory and the coal bunkers. Is there a third one?’
‘The water from the lake,’ offered Ankush.
‘Excellent!’ exclaimed Inigo. ‘The steam engines get their water from the lake. Empty the lake or destroy the pipes and the gate will be disabled, possibly for a long time.’
‘There’s only one problem.’
‘What’s that?’ asked Inigo.
‘We have to find a way to stop the marines patrolling those sites, yet keep them guarded so that any attack doesn’t succeed.’
‘It’s going to look suspicious if we try to divert everyone’s attention away from the three most vulnerable parts of the gate!’
‘Not if we find something to distract them, something really big for them to worry about.’
There was a long silence. James looked at the ceiling for inspiration. The brothers stared at each other, each hoping his sibling had the answer. Inigo scratched his head and now Ellen was pacing. I sipped at a cold cup of tea, feeling sure there was something, but at a loss to pinpoint what it was. Na-Su had finished designing whatever device she was working on. For some time now, she’d been sitting back in her chair with her arms crossed, listening to the exchange. She leaned forward, her lips twisted into a sneer.
‘Tell them the failsafe about to blow.’
Everyone looked at her open mouthed. It was a fiendish idea, and so simple it was pure genius. I told her so, and the Omolit woman cracked a rare smile. We talked a while longer, fleshing out the plan. Eventually we were all satisfied. The biggest worry remaining was the possibility that the people we seeded with the idea of the three separate traps would talk to each other. If they did, it would soon become apparent to the traitor that something was afoot.
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