Chapter 75 - The Kraken Gate
It was gone six bells. Dawn would be breaking topside, meaning that the mansion would be busy with the morning preparations, so we decided not to attempt the secret passage again. Instead, we crept up the spiral, stone stairs. No one was guarding the entrance, so we emerged cautiously into the hunting lodge’s hall. I wasn’t enjoying the continued run of good luck. It’s my experience that luck runs out, so I wasn’t surprised when we heard a commotion at the top of the stairs. It sounded like the marines were finishing up a search of our rooms on the first floor and were regrouping. Quickly, we climbed into one of the cloak cupboards that lined the walls of the hunting lodge’s entrance and pulled the door closed behind us. We only had to share the space with one musty coat, nevertheless Inigo and I were packed in so tightly that I nearly punched him in the stomach when I had to hurriedly suppress a sneeze.
After what seemed like a lifetime, the marines trooped downstairs and out through the back of the lodge. When the coast was clear, we took the stealthiest route we could back to the chapel. Twice, we had to wait in bushes while patrols crossed our path, and then I insisted we held back from entering the chapel, worried that the others had already been caught, and we were walking into a trap. By the time I was satisfied, Inigo and I were half a bell late.
Professor Maddison was there, standing between James and Na-Su. He looked surprisingly untroubled by the unusual situation.
‘We find him on way back,’ said Na-Su.
‘He’d just taken a toilet break and was on his way to the control room,’ James explained, but he was unhappy. ‘We couldn’t get Ellen. There were five marines posted to watch her,’ he complained. He was wringing his hands. ‘I wanted to try for her, but Na-Su said it would be a mistake.’
‘Harman’s not stupid,’ I said. ‘He knows we’d rescue her if we could. I’m willing to bet it was a trap, with more people waiting nearby.’
‘Gods damn that man!’
I tried to reassure James. ’We’ll get her back,’ I said, although at that point, I had no idea how we would go about it.
‘Your best chance is when they move her,’ said the professor. Everyone stared at him. ‘Harman makes sure she's taken down to the control room whenever he’s there. He’s terrified you’re going to try something, so he keeps her close by.’
‘I see, Professor. And you’re helping us now are you?’
James cut in. ‘He didn’t object much when we hauled him here.’
‘That depends on what you mean to do,’ Maddison said, eyeing me suspiciously. He was worried that I was going to ruin his life’s work again.
‘Stop Harman,’ I said, elusively.
‘Good,’ said the professor, ‘but how?’
‘Cut off the water supply so the steam engines can’t run.’ Alright, so the water won’t exactly be cut off and will keep pouring into the engine room, but Maddison doesn’t need to know that. The professor would want more detail, so I changed the subject. ‘You don’t approve of Director Harman’s new purpose for the Koulomb Gate?’
‘No, I do not!’ Maddison replied hotly. ‘And to think that sorceress niece of his has usurped my work for such evil. Three years I’ve been feeding her vital information, helping her to graduate with flying colours, and this is how she repays me!’
I held up a hand to quieten the professor. He was just getting going, about to dictate a thesis on how he had been wronged.
‘I’m sorry, professor, but we don’t have much time. Millicent, would you mind getting up on that table and keeping a lookout through the window? I can’t believe they haven’t looked here yet. It’s only a matter of time.’
The hydrologist obliged, allowing herself to be helped onto the table where she could see towards the mansion and the lake.
The mission to collect weapons had been only slightly more successful than the one to liberate Ellen. Tyrone and Mahkran had arranged the small selection on one of the pews. There were two crossbows, a spear, a scythe, a pair of sheep shears and a long-handled axe. I would have liked my cutlass, and the Omolit woman’s masher carbine, but beggars can’t be choosers. I picked up the spear.
‘Let’s finish this,’ I said. ‘Inigo, I believe I gave you the helm.’
‘Thanks, chief.’ Inigo faced the team and told them what we’d done, and what we still needed to do. ‘We have to get that wire connected when the gate is shut down between runs. We’ve got two chances after they’ve got the second set of coordinates, or after the third. If we’re unsuccessful, Harman’s going to hit Nallia hard.’
‘Only one more chance!’ interrupted Maddison. We all looked at him. ‘They’re doing the third run now. In one or two bells, Harman will have all the coordinates he needs.’
Somehow we had missed one of the gate’s openings. We hadn’t kept track properly while we’d been imprisoned in the crypt. I breathed deeply, trying to calm myself. I nodded at Inigo, so he continued.
‘Nothing has changed,’ said the young man, coolly. ‘We need to get into the portal chamber, wire up the circuit and get out without being caught. Yes, Professor?’
‘This is your best chance,’ said Professor Maddison. ‘The calibration process is tricky. Dr. Betz will want to double-check the calculations. The portal chamber should be empty while that’s taking place.’
‘Thank you. In that case, we need to get going. It may take us a long time to get back into the hunting lodge unseen. Mr. Rendish?’
‘Aye, young man?’
‘I’d like you and Dr. Onacar to get to the stables and keep an eye on what’s going on there. We may need another way out of the portal chamber, in which case we’ll need you to open the goods hatch in the courtyard. Dr. Onacar knows where it is, and the two of you aren’t readily identifiable as part of our team, so there’s less chance you’ll be stopped by the marines or Harman’s heavies.’
‘We’ll do it, Mr. Forbes.’
‘Thank you. The rest of us will go mob handed. Since we have to succeed, we may have to subdue anyone who accidentally crosses paths with us.’
‘Chief?’ said James, arms folded over his chest.
‘Yes, James.’
‘You promised you would try to find a way to end the war. You said there would be another way. That’s the only reason I’m helping you.’
‘You’re right, James. I’m hoping that we’ll be able to get the gate working again once we’ve contained Harman. Then we can use it to threaten the Nallian’s without killing anyone.’
‘Didn’t you say that something like this can’t be used as a threat in case an enemy calls our bluff?’
‘I did, but that will be someone else’s problem. I haven’t worked out the details yet, so I’m asking you to believe in me. Do I have your trust?'
James gave me a shrewd look and then shook my hand. I thanked him and then asked everyone to pause for a few moments. I found a pen in the chapel’s vestry and tore the last page from one of the hymnals. On it, I wrote a note which I handed to Millicent Onacar. She glanced at it, nodded to confirm she understood, and then tucked it into the breast pocket of her coat.
‘Is everyone ready?’ asked Inigo, when I was done. We all answered that we were. ‘Then let’s get to work.’
Including Millicent and Maddison, there were seven of us against two platoons of marines. We weren’t exactly in tip-top shape; Na-Su and I only had one useful arm apiece, and we had a handful of archaic weapons. Our chances of success were about as good as Meniah getting back into Draxil’s bed while he was held in Aripole’s sway.
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