Chapter 78 - The Kraken Gate
Once more the caverns were filled with the reverberations of a steam engine, although it had only been possible to salvage one. Its twin was the one that exploded when the cavern filled with water. Maddison and his team had worked like demons to get the Koulomb Gate back online. Now, the one remaining engine had been running non-stop for ten bells. A one-hundred percent charge and one functioning steam engine would only be sufficient to open the Koulomb Gate and keep it open for a quarter turn. It would have to do.
The away team was ready. It included eighteen of Emberly’s Second Fusiliers, including two women. They looked professional and determined in their regimental uniform; navy trousers with a red stripe running down each leg, stiff, braid collared navy jackets with epaulets and the stripes of rank on the upper arm. They held their dummy carbines in two hands, as though these were precious guns that would save their lives in a real battle. Na-Su and her volunteers had done an extraordinary job. I certainly couldn’t tell that they weren’t real, even close up, so I was confident that the Nallians would be fooled. It made me proud to look at them.
There was a noise like an old barn door grinding open and the great dynamos either side of the dais began to turn. Slowly, they gathered speed and the noise in the great chamber rose to deafening proportions. Actinic flashes coursed over the field generators, lighting up the ceiling high above, as power from the batteries was merged with what was coming from the engine. Two turns later, the portal began to shimmer and grow until it touched the floorboards. The view through the portal wasn’t clear enough to be sure that Professor Maddison had hit the mark. There was only one way to be sure.
It was a Lieutenant Walden who led his people through the gate, marching two-by-two. Mahkran and I followed. I wasn’t limping any more, which gave me confidence, and I had stopped worrying about what we would do if the plan failed. There were too many variables. Sometimes you have to plot a course and follow it until you no longer can. Worst case, I supposed, we could retreat through the portal and think again.
That the second round of calibration had been successful was apparent the tick I exited the portal on the far side. The precision with which the Koulomb Gate had targeted our touchdown was breathtaking. The portal had opened into a circular room of enormous proportions and we had all disgorged at the extreme end of a raised platform of polished grey marble. Concentric tiers of desks rose around the platform, each one populated by a member of the Nallian Collective. A shocked silence met us, but it wasn’t long before that turned into outright pandemonium. As we had hoped, no one in the great hall was carrying a weapon, and thanks to our replicas, they were convinced that we were. There was talking and shouting. Some were evidently making for exits all around the room, but many were transfixed by our appearance in the very centre of their seat of power.
I hoped that we would get a few turns that we needed to get our message across. Mahkran and I walked around the fusiliers who stood to attention and took our places beside the podium. The man who had occupied centre-stage had retreated to one side and was now cowering behind a dozen officials. I couldn’t tell if it was their supreme leader. We had no pictures of the man so there was no way of knowing. I didn’t care. We were here to deliver a message. Mahkran would be the one to do it. He took a sheaf of paper from his pocket and placed it on the heavy marble podium. I raised one hand to quieten the room and miraculously, it worked. Mahkran cleared his throat and began to read in fluent Nallian. These are the words, translated into Emberlandish …
‘People of Nallia, we are emissaries from Emberland and we come to you today in peace.
‘We come to you in peace, even though, at your command, your army has invaded our peaceful nation, and is raining down terror from airships on Ripolis and the surrounding lands.
‘We come to you in peace, even though with this machine…’ here Mahkran gestured back the the shimmering portal, ‘…with this Koulomb Gate, we can reach into Nallia anywhere we choose, and we can obliterate any target that we want. Be in no doubt, that instead of coming here to speak with you today, we could have destroyed this whole city, or Pramest, Halta, or any city of yours that we chose. As you can see, with this device, you cannot stop us.
‘We chose not to kill thousands of your people. Remember this and think on it, before you make any rash decision.’
I could see armed guards, Nallian soldiery starting to pour through the doors. Someone near the back started to bark orders. In the pause that Mahkran left, the elderly man we had chased from the stage raised his voice. He wasn’t looking at us, but he spoke quickly, like the rattle of a chain through sprockets. I only know a handful of words in Nallian so I couldn’t understand what he was saying, but he sounded angry. I imagined he was giving the order to open fire. I didn’t feel optimistic about our chances of making it back through the gate under a withering crossfire. I looked to Mahkran for a sign, but got nothing from him. He was standing ramrod straight, eyes front and looking calm. Soldiers were still entering the hall, but now they did so silently. They spread out and aimed their weapons at us. It seemed that the Nallian leader had given us an opportunity to continue, so Mahkran picked up from where he had left off. He repeated it for me in Emberlish later on.
‘We come to you today to ask for peace. We may not be your real brothers and sisters across the water, but we want the same things; peace, prosperity, and the chance to raise our children in a world that’s happy, full of promise and safe. We are not so different. Please withdraw your army and speak with us. The chancellor of the People’s Republic of Emberland wishes you to know that he would meet with you on neutral territory to forge an alliance, a peaceful, profitable alliance based on trade and mutual respect.’ Here, Mahkran paused for a moment, to let this sink in.
‘You are the masters of your own destiny. The chancellor knows you will choose your own course in this matter, as with all other aspects of Nallian life, but he hopes that today’s demonstration of the Koulomb Gate will persuade you to take our outstretched hand in friendship.'
As we had agreed, we would return immediately to Emberland where we would await news. Chancellor Gordon was adamant that he didn’t want us taken hostage. I hoped that the confusion following the speech would buy us enough time to extract ourselves. Neither Mahkran or I looked over our shoulders as we passed the fusiliers. As we stepped into the portal, I heard them ship arms, turn smartly on their heels and follow us through.
As soon as we were back, engineers began to power down the gate.
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