Chapter 57 - The Kraken Gate
Traveling through the portal was less nerve-wracking the second time, even though the machine was still frighteningly noisy with the barely contained violence of the spinning field generators on either side. This time, Second Lieutenant Overstrand was on point, leading his squad of marines through first. Mahkran and Inigo accompanied me, but they would assist with construction of the fort once we had secured the environs.
The air inside the aperture of the gate shimmered and briefly went opaque, before clearing again, this time with a view onto another location in Ganessa.
‘Is this the other side of the ridge?’ I shouted at Professor Maddison, who was making his very first journey through the portal. He hadn’t forgiven me for destroying his creation in Emberly but he was managing to stay civil. I guessed that protecting the observatory had restored me somewhat in his estimation.
‘The target is twelve leagues east of the previous location,’ he bellowed into the rising gale sweeping towards the portal. ‘But the margin of error is plus or minus one third of one percent of Ganessa’s radius.’
‘Which means what?’ I asked, squinting to keep the flying dust out of my eyes.
‘We could be up to three leagues adrift along a north-south axis and as much as ten leagues east or west.’
‘Great! So we could be right back where we were last time.’
Maddison nodded as we traipsed through the portal, backpacks weighing us down. The wind buffeted us as the air rushed through the portal, trying to equalise the pressure on both sides of the gate. I realised that Maddison was clutching my arm. Great! A vote of confidence from the contraption’s creator! A few steps and the aperture was behind us. It was immediately clear that we had not touched down in the boulder-strewn valley that we’d explored last time. Instead, the Koulomb Gate had opened on a forest of broad-leaved trees, one of which was partially blocking our way. I was acclimatised to the seasonal chill in Lannerville so the air here felt warm and muggy.
Overstrand and his men fanned out under the jaundiced leaves. Mahkran and Inigo scanned the canopy above us warily before setting off in the least trampled direction. They carried a selection of Na-Su’s weapons, from the original spears and crossbows, to the newer scythes and hand-held catapults. My new, gate-proof cutlass was strapped to my waist. I also carried a crossbow, sticks of dynamite, one of Na-Su’s slingshots and a roll of canvas packed with quicklime packets.
Behind us, Ellen’s gang of labourers began hauling materials through the gate. Two of the estate’s forestry workers began hacking at the tree which was partially blocking the portal. The flint head axes they’d brought with them worked surprising well on the local trees.
I caught up with Overstrand, Evershed and Professor Maddison, who were assessing the lie of the land. The ground was largely flat, but there were hollows here and there that had collected pools of brackish water. Two-hundred paces out and to the left of the portal’s touchdown there was a large dry area where several of the trees had fallen, making a clearing. Grey clouds tinged with purple were visible overhead. Although night had fallen on Illesin, it was just short of midday on Ganessa.
‘Where are we, Dr. Evershed,’ I asked. ‘Is this anywhere near the first place you touched down?’
‘It doesn’t look at all the same, Ms. Derringer, but if I can get to some high ground, I may be able to get my bearings.’
‘Right,’ I growled. ‘We’ll have to build the base there,’ I pointed at the clearer patch. ‘We need to fell some more trees to give us a clear line of sight and some killing ground.’
Overstrand grimaced. ‘I don’t like it.’
‘Well, we don’t have much choice,’ I replied. ‘We’ve got to bring a lot of materials through the gate and the further we have to lug them, the greater the risk of being attacked before we get the fortifications built.’
Overstrand made a sour face, but he’d seen what the Charg were capable of. ‘How long have we got until the gate closes, Professor?’
‘About thirty turns.’ Maddison peered at a notepad. ‘Half a bell. Never fear. We’ll all be extracted before nightfall.’
Overstrand looked at the growing pile of materials that was being carried through the portal. It was woefully small, compared with what we’d need to build a stout garrison to keep us safe from the local fauna.
‘We’re going to have to work double-time,’ he said, and marched off to direct the forestry workers to their designated area. I watched as it dawned on Ellen’s work crew that their job was not done when they’d brought their loads through the gate. Men and women, exhausted from hauling logs, planks and primitive stone tools across the Lannerville estate, looked in dismay at the distance they now had to cover over uneven ground to where the camp would be made. I was not overly worried though, if there was one thing that Ellen was good at, it was getting people to do her bidding.
Evershed and Maddison strolled off, chatting excitedly, as though they were on a school field day. Their nonchalance made my stomach hurt, so I followed them, and it was just as well.
Large, dragonfly-like insects flew erratic patrols through the forest, their wings a blur. Vines hung from the trees, here and there sprouting a spiralling network of closely spaced tendrils that looked like a small umbrella suspended from its tip. Completing the illusion of an umbrella was a central strand that hung down like a handle. They were scattered at various heights throughout the canopy. Insects were giving them a wide berth and I was just about to remark on it when Maddison reached up and grasped what looked like the handle of the nearest one. He yelled in alarm when it twisted itself around his wrist and the net-like ‘umbrella’ collapsed over his arm, engulfing it. My new brass cutlass rasped from its sheath as I spun towards the professor, slicing at the vine’s support. The blade slashed through the stalk, dropping it to the ground where Maddison was able to tear the mesh from his arm.
‘Fuck!’ he cried, unscientifically. I pulled him back before he could stamp on the remains of the plant and teased the structure open with the tip of my sword. Near the apex, dozens of spikes, like needles, extended downward.
‘Look,’ I pointed at the appendage that had wrapped itself around Maddison’s wrist. ‘This thing would have curled up, dragging your hand onto the spines. Did you touch one of them?’
‘No,’ replied the professor. Shakily, he checked his hand for puncture wounds and gazed up at the trees. ‘Look, some of these upside-down traps are closed.’
‘Fascinating!’ Evershed was inspecting the nearest one from what he hoped was a safe distance. We could see through the tendrils that were clasped around one of the dragonfly-like creatures. It was rammed firmly onto the spines. It was desiccated and very, very dead.
‘It’s been sucked dry,’ remarked Professor Maddison, still pale.
‘It looks that way, doesn’t it?’ Evershed agreed cheerfully. ‘It sets me in mind of the Prong-Nosed Armatule that lives in the deserts of Kambaam east of Nubria. There’s so little moisture there that many of the species, including the Armatule - about the size of a large dog - are forced to obtain the necessary fluids by sucking them from other creatures they come across. This, however, is the first plant I’ve ever seen to do the same thing.’
‘Charming! Still, don’t worry, Dr. Evershed,’ I added, imitating his airy tone. ‘It would have taken many weeks to suck the life juices from you.’ My jibe was lost on the naturalist though who, to his credit, was fascinated by the wildlife.
‘I wouldn’t be surprised if the spines are poisonous,’ he said.
Using the point of my sword, I scooped up the downed plant, lobbing it in Overstrand’s direction. The marine neatly stepped aside, then stooped to pick it up carefully. It occurred to me that if he accidentally poisoned himself, it would remove one person from our list of suspects. Lazy and unworthy, Connie. Do your job properly.
‘I’ll show this to the troops as a warning,’ he said and headed back towards the enlarged clearing where the first posts were going into the ground.
Maddison and Evershed joined me on a circuit around the emerging base, trying not to stray too far from safety. The idea was to establish our bearings so that we could plot a course to the original touchdown point. The thought of that task made me irritated. I looked forward to fulfilling Harman’s obsessive need to see what had happened so that we could concentrate on the next part of the mission, the planet’s exploration. It was only the prospect of seeing for myself what had done for Ty and Edgar that gave me a reason to go.
We had completed three-quarters of our circuit when we came to a place where the land rose and the vegetation thinned enough that we could see out across the forest in all directions. I kept a sharp eye out for Charg as we climbed, but we reached the top of the small hill without any sign of the kraken. The sky was a deeper shade of purple than on our last visit. Maddison leafed through some pages in a notebook, tutting occasionally while Evershed shielded his eyes and scanned the horizon. Almost immediately, the naturalist pointed to a peak that looked to be twenty leagues distant.
‘There! I named it The General for its nose, after General Kostick, of course. See that beak?’
It didn’t surprise me that the pompous ass had taken it upon himself to name a feature after one of Emberland’s most decorated asses; Kostick was responsible for a heroically failed campaign against Caddria fifty years ago. Still, if it helped him to get a bearing that was alright by me.
‘We were due south of it,’ he continued, ‘perhaps half the distance we are from it now. Of course, its profile is somewhat different from this angle, but I spotted it instantly, thanks to my long experience navigating unfamiliar places.’
I glanced in the direction of Ganessa's single sun. I gauged it to be three bells after midday, but I was unsure of our latitude and hence the star’s zenith. Maddison made some calculations though, and informed us that The General was on a bearing of twenty-five degrees from our position. I did an estimate of my own.
‘So, we need to travel west somewhere between twelve and fifteen leagues to reach the last place the gate opened?’
‘Very good, Ms. Derringer. Something like that.’
We headed back to the base where we discovered that all-hells had broken loose.
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