Chapter 73 - The Kraken Gate
I struggled to work out who it was in the dim light, but Mahkran’s eyesight was better.
‘Mister Rendish!’ he shouted.
Tyrone grinned and put down the brass candelabra he’d levelled at us, then Mahkran stepped forward and wrapped his arms around the veteran in a gigantic bear hug. There were tears in the Gulreimian’s eyes, tears that he hadn’t cried at the loss of his brother, but was now happy to shed at the return of Tyrone. Our surprise and delight was so great that I was worried we could be heard all the way to the mansion.
‘You made it back!’ I exclaimed, but was drowned out by James, who picked the Caddrian off the ground when it was his turn to embrace him. Na-Su was more reserved, but I could see she was moved, pleased to see her fellow survivalist back from the dead.
Millicent, who didn’t know Tyrone, and had no idea that he’d been lost, presumed dead, was extremely puzzled by the uproar. She nevertheless introduced herself and smiled broadly when he introduced himself with a bow.
‘At your service, ma’am.’
‘By the Shades of Aballas!’ said James, giving Ty a hearty slap on the back. ‘You piece of shit, Ty! We thought you were dead… twice.’
‘We Caddrian’s don’t die easily. Anyway, I ‘eard you gave me a good send off.’
‘We did, so now you owe me a refund for the big bunch of flowers I bought.’
‘If you bought flowers, James, you tight bastard, I’ll kill meself and this time, I’ll stay dead.’
We all laughed at that. Finally, when things had calmed down, I asked Tyrone how he had known to meet us at the chapel.
‘I didn’t,’ he said. ‘I had no idea where you lot were, but I saw this chapel and remembered you saying you’d ‘ad a ceremony for me, so I thought I’d come and see where you’d all said your last farewells. “Maybe,” I thought to myself, “I’ll get a flash of inspiration from sitting quietly for a while.” Anyway, ‘ere we are, and although I’m not sure of all the details, I’d say you were in a spot o’ bother!’ His eyes caught the light of a candle. He looked happy. ‘Anything I can ‘elp with?’
James snorted. ‘We had it all under control, Ty, but since you’re here…’
‘Yes, since you’re here,’ I cut in, anxious to make progress. It was well past midnight. Maddison’s team only needed two more trig points to be able to pinpoint any city on Illesin with frightening precision. ‘Since you are here, you can help us. We’ve got to rescue Ellen, and blow up the boat house.’
‘Aye, well, that sounds like my kind of job, that. How do we do that?’
Everyone looked expectantly at me. I was pretty sure I wasn’t thinking straight. Sleep deprivation during the last few days was taking its toll, and I was cold again, which was affecting my concentration.
‘Can we sit down?’ I said. So James and Na-Su made a triangle of three pews, facing inwards and everyone took a seat.
‘I don’t know what I’ve done to deserve such a great team. Your faith in me is humbling.’ There was a lump in my throat, so I took a couple of breaths. ‘As I said, we have to rescue Ellen, and stop the Koulomb Gate from being used as a weapon of mass destruction. That will buy us time, and in that time, we need to make sure Chancellor Gordon hears what’s happened.’ I heard murmurs of uncertainty at the chancellor’s name, so I held my hand up.
‘I agree…we don’t know what he will do, but I’d rather trust someone who was elected to take decisions. At least there’s accountability down that route. The trouble is, that there are many details to sort out, and I can’t do it…not tonight.’ Again, I waved down the protests.
‘Inigo, please would you take over?’
‘Ma’am?’
‘I’m injured and tired. I can barely focus. Please would you take over and work with everyone to come up with a plan?’
‘Me?’
‘Yes you, Inigo! We both know you can do it. There was a time that you ran your own crew and swept the floor with your enemies. Now Lockhouse is your company, your home, as much as it is mine.’
‘Are you sure?’ He looked proud. When I secured his release from prison, I was convinced he’d disappear within three cycles, but a small corner of me knew that he needed redemption, a way back from the life that had taken hold of him like one of those upside-down umbrella plants on Ganessa enfolded its prey. Yes, he had embraced it, but that was before he knew the price he would have to pay; no one to trust, no friends and the horror of rest or sleep. Your enemies built their empires while you rested, and when you slept their assassins came for you with the garrotte or the stiletto.
‘Draxil’s Beard! Don’t make me beg,’ I growled. ‘I believe in you…we all do, right?’ I glanced at the others. They nodded. Na-Su reached out and touched his arm. Appreciation from the normally dour Omolit meant more to him than anything I had said. There was the merest hint of water gathering in the corners of his eyes until he got a grip of himself. He nodded slowly and smiled his acknowledgement, but I saw anger too. To feel such thoughts in the underworld would have been construed as weakness, something he had fought to expunge it from his personality, until Lockhouse had taken him in.
Inigo looked each one of us in the eye; Na-Su, James, Mahkran, Tyrone once more, and Dr. Millicent Onacar, who was suddenly part of the team. He pushed his floppy black hair aside and held his head high.
‘Sure, chief. I won’t let you down. This is how it stands…we need to find weapons, rescue Ellen, and kidnap Professor Maddison too, if possible. He might help us if he’s unhappy about Harman’s use of his invention. If he is in league with the old bastard, his absence might cause a delay. After all that, we need to find a way to smash the water pipes and drown the steam engines.’
‘What then?’ asked Tyrone.
‘After that, either we find Jenniver and the Director, and lock them up, pending a trial for treason, or we continue to delay until Chancellor Gordon returns.’
‘Sounds great!’ I said. ‘Dr. Onacar, do you know where Ellen is being kept?’
‘The infirmary, Ms. Derringer. She’s locked in one of the old cells reserved for corrosion sufferers.’
I nodded and then looked to Inigo.
‘All right,’ he said. ‘This is what we’ll do; Ty and Mahkran will go out and see if they can find some weapons. Something better than candlesticks this time, please. Remember to search the stable block, and the observatory, if you can get in. It’s possible we didn’t clear everything away the other night. James…you and Na-Su see if Ellen can be broken free from the infirmary, but don’t take any unnecessary risks. If everything else goes well, there will be other opportunities to get her back. The chief and I will set up demolition on the water pipes. Everyone needs to be back here in two bells. If you run into trouble, get clear if you can, and take a long, wide route back. If you time it right, the rest of us will already be back, so you’ll have backup. Is everyone clear about their tasks?’
‘Er, what about me?’ Millicent said, holding her hand up.
‘Chief?’
‘This isn’t a game, Dr. Onacar,’ I said. ‘There’s probably going to be shooting, some of it at us.’
Millicent shook her head. ‘I don’t care. Harman has to be stopped.’
‘Alright. Inigo, where do you want Dr. Onacar?’
Inigo already had an answer. ‘With Ty and Mahkran. If they can lay their hands on some weapons, they’ll need help carrying them back.’
When I was certain that there were no more questions, I told Inigo what Rigsby had said about there being an access route to the pipes from the tunnel near the crypt.
‘Well then, it looks like we’re heading back to the place we worked so hard to escape from.’ Inigo grinned. ‘We’ll need explosives, chief. Do you have the key to the lockup?’
The brass key was still on a string around my neck. I held it up. Jenniver wasn’t experienced at frisking people, and besides, she’d been searching for weapons, not small, key-sized pieces of metal.
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