Chapter 5 - The Kraken Gate
‘It sounded like a gunshot, Ankush.’ I cautiously lifted the kerchief away from my forehead. Ankush nodded at me; the cut had stopped bleeding.
We were sitting at a long wooden table in Diadem Inn. The inn stood in a row of small, timbered buildings from the time of Orwall the First that hugged the eastern edge of Tellemarch Park. Above them strode the giant skeletal framework of girders, struts and rivets that was the air-train track, the transportation we’d be taking to Director Harman’s Lannerville estate in three days time. Behind the inn, the twin cathedrals of Draxil and Aripole towered, rising even above the iron-work of the air-train. Draxil’s spire was resplendent in gold-leaf, Aripole’s tapering cupola was a warm, lacquered copper. The inn itself was noisy with the good-natured roar of off-duty soldiers, and the air was thick with tobacco smoke.
‘Maybe someone dropped something,’ Ankush offered.
I made a face. ‘Maybe.’
Ankush Malek’s older brother, Mahkran was drinking tea. If they had looked similar in their youth, the family resemblance had been erased by the storm of pockmarks on Mahkran’s face and neck, a souvenir of the Corrosion Pox that he’d miraculously survived as a boy. Additionally, Mahkran was quieter than his brother, solemn and more patient, which suited his particular skill as a sniper.
Ankush had managed to gather the rest of the team who were also seated around the table with a variety of drinks. James Dunn’s quart of dark ale looked small, gripped in a large hand at the end of his meaty, tattooed forearm. Ellen Tremain was sipping a glass of pressed mintflower. Inigo Forbes was running his finger around the rim of a glass of red wine, while Na-Su Kamak clasped a tumbler of fire-root ginger liquor. The mood was not light. Ankush and I had outlined what we knew of the morning’s events, and told them of Director Harman’s plan to decamp to the west of the country. That set everyone off, all talking over each other. Pretty soon one conversation became four. I motioned to Ankush that we’d speak about the Poplar Square incident later and tried to interrupt the main conversation on which Na-Su Kamak was holding forth. Omolit people from the ice rim are known for being direct, and Na-Su was just about the most forthright among them!
‘This bad job, you unnerstand!’ she exclaimed, waving her finger at me. She was short but had a powerful frame, partly hooded brown eyes and hair cropped short, almost to a military style. She was wearing the only clothes I’d ever seen her wear; thick brown denim trousers and a long, tan-coloured, waxed canvas tunic. She took a lot of verbal abuse on the streets of Emberly, cruel jibes about her appearance and racist remarks. I’d watched her brush it aside on many occasion and waded in twice on her behalf when she refused to cause a scene. In spite of her stoicism, she was as human as the rest of us. I knew it had to hurt, and I was ashamed of my so-called compatriots. Na-Su’s specialism was what I called creative weaponry, which also included explosives. Sure, I could blow stuff up and was good with triggers and timers but Na-Su’s people had invented gunpowder. She had learned from Omolit masters and then gone on to teach them a few new tricks; shaped charges, cutter-tape and rocketry. ‘Mr. Ty gone and he way-way good man! Mr. Edgar too, all gone, bang!’
‘Ms. Kamak, please,’ I tried. ‘It’s nasty and not the way any of us wanted this to go.’
‘I not liking this job!’ she continued. ‘It smell bad when we sign up but now it stink awful bad.’
‘I don’t know what you’re complaining about, Na-Su,’ drawled James Dunn, surprising me. I’d expected him to blow his top as soon as he learned of our casualties. He was a big man, the biggest in my team. He’d traversed the Sea of Souls as far as the Shattered Hands in the merchant marine, and he’d worked the docks as a stevedore. He looked as though he’d worked overtime on the heaviest crates just for fun. The buttons on his faded blue shirt looked like they were taking a lot of strain across his chest, and it wasn’t a small shirt. He’d given up on his thinning hair and shaved it all off which, with all of the musculature tended to deter people from picking fights with him. It was a look that also discouraged folk from spontaneously making friends with him. When he spoke, his voice was like distant thunder.
‘In case you’ve forgotten, it was us that set the charges that blew up Winslow House. Finnian knew the score. Ty Rendish even checked the failsafe himself before he went through.’
‘Thank you, James. They both knew what they were doing. Listen,’ I added, ‘I know things have changed. It looks as though the Charg aren’t as mindless as we first thought, so they’re a worry, but we’ve dealt with bigger threats than this before.’ I could see from their expressions that Ellen and Inigo didn’t share my confidence. They were the smartest members of the team. Inigo was unaccountably attractive to women of all ages. His big eyes and floppy black hair had something to do with it, but I felt sure that the biggest draw was the perpetually undernourished look which brought out their mothering instinct. Not in me though. My father had pointed me in his direction. Intellect and the ruthless streak of a born survivor hadn’t kept him out of prison, but they were why I had secured his release.
Ellen was petite, blonde and born to organise everyone and everything around her. I would have hated her if she was prettier than me. Irritatingly, she was, which meant I had to hold my jealousy in check and remember that there were very few of our operations I could have run without her. She would certainly be invaluable managing the logistics of our move up-country.
An air-train roared overhead. The girders that held it aloft shook, transmitting vibrations into the ground on which the inn was built.
‘I’ll understand if you want to quit this job now, but our reputation will suffer,’ I pointed out when the noise had died down. ‘Director Harman has friends in high places. This contract could lead to many more lucrative assignments if we see it through to the end. I’d like to continue. I can’t do it without you, but I can’t force you to stay on if you don’t want to.’
There was a pause while they considered this. Sensing the lull, a shabby waiter with a gloomy expression pounced and took orders for food. When he had gone, it was James’ turn to complain.
‘Are you booting us out?’ he growled, thumping his empty glass down on the table.
‘I’m not booting anyone out. I am giving you a choice.’
‘Why don’t we find another contract?’
‘Where do you suggest we look? In case you haven’t noticed, everyone’s a little preoccupied what with the Nallians mobilising their airships along the border.’
‘This new mission is suicide, though!’ That from Inigo, ever the optimist. ‘Anyone in the control room when the failsafe triggers is dead. Anyone on the away team is either dead because they’ve been killed by the Charg or they’re stranded after the gate is destroyed with zero chance of returning home.’
‘What if there’s a third gate that Harman hasn’t told us about?’ said Ellen, her voice small and precise.
‘It is risky,’ I conceded, ‘and I don’t think we should rely on there being more gates, but I think I know how we can do it and keep ourselves safe. I’m willing to bet that if we all treat it as a regular job and pool our ideas, we can get through this.’
‘That’s not a bet we can take up and collect on if you’re wrong,’ rumbled James. ‘Alright, let’s work it up as best we can, but if it looks shit, I’m out.’
‘Like Inigo, I don’t like the thought of getting trapped on a distant planet with no hope of rescue so the first thing we have to do is make the failsafe redundant, or at least a very last resort. We need to stop the Charg before they reach the portal.’
‘A perimeter,’ Ankush chipped in.
‘Exactly, we set up a cordon on the far side to prevent them getting close.’
‘How do we do that? What if they can climb obstacles?’
‘Right, but why would they climb over something if there was a clear channel they could come through? We build a barrier with one or two gaps that we mine with explosives.’
‘I don’t think it will work more than once or twice, if it works at all!’ exclaimed James.
‘Why not?’
‘Even if the barrier isn’t destroyed leaving them with bigger gaps to get through, we couldn’t set new charges quickly enough if we had to keep several of them out.’
Ellen cleared her throat. Everyone turned to look at her. ‘If they’re clever and they learn, that would also limit the effectiveness of the perimeter.’
‘Could we trap them? You know, lure them into a cage of some sort,’ said Inigo.
‘What do we build the cage with?’ asked Na-Su. ‘We cannot take metal through, and we not even know if metal can hold them.’
‘In theory, we can take brass through the gate,’ said Inigo. ‘But no iron or steel. The first away team didn’t take the technicians seriously and tried to smuggle firearms through.’
‘Yes, yes. We all heard this story.’ said Na-Su, but Inigo ploughed on regardless. He liked the gory details, and I was happy to hear it again. It’s so gratifying when idiots get their comeuppance.
‘Three of the team took guns into the gate chamber. Two of the guns were ripped from their holsters and destroyed the left-hand dynamo. The other one dragged its unlucky owner into the right-hand dynamo. He was pulped. The rest of the team were lucky to escape with their lives because the field generator tore itself apart.’
The subject of defensive and offensive strategies against the Charg occupied us until the lugubrious waiter returned and began to hand out our meals. The lively discussion had given my team an appetite. It was good to see them putting their heads together, but the morning’s body count had killed my appetite. I picked at my food.
By the time our plates had been cleared away and I had paid the tab, Ankush had come up with the idea of mirrors to dazzle or blind the Charg, Mahkran had proposed building some kind of decoy to lure them away from the gate, and James had asked whether mines could be taken through. None of us was yet confident that we had a viable strategy.
We stepped out of the inn and had only gone a few paces when a gigantic shadow passed over us, eclipsing the warmth of the day. Around us, the citizens of Emberly gaped at the sky above, some dropping to their knees in terror. As one, we looked up, and watched as the nose of a louring grey behemoth slid menacingly overhead.
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