Hardacre was
still ringing the bell when he saw Kath leading John up the stairs. A huge grin
appeared on his face and he let go of the bell rope. He took a few steps
forwards with his arms outstretched. For a very odd second or two Kath had the
distinct impression that Hardacre wanted to embrace his master, but then his
smile faded to imperceptible and his arms fell back to his sides. Kath was deeply impressed by the speed at
which he could shake off the bell’s effect; but she was also disappointed.
After all, a hug really wouldn’t have hurt.
‘Sir’ said Hardacre, ‘I’m wondering what happened to you’
John grinned. The symmetry of
the universe had been restored.
‘I was delayed, in another world’
‘Well, that explains the strange message I received from you’
Hardacre examined John carefully. He still appeared very tired and
pale.
‘You look very thin, sir’ he said, ‘have you been eating and sleeping
properly?’
John shook his head.
‘It’s not just that. I had some problems getting home’
‘You mentioned another world…’
‘Yes – Helios – I was trapped there and I had to find my way back’
‘Where is that, sir?’
John proceeded to tell him, and the others, what had happened in the
Deep Vault, about the Outer Void, and about Helios. He told them about the Basilieus
and the Archon and some of the things that he had learned in the other realm.
Finally he told them about the Folds and explained what had happened. He didn’t
mention Jones, however, as he was very unsure of those memories.
They all listened intently, except for Potentilla, who was still
guarding the Autelephas Vault, and Viola, who had taken the opportunity to ring
the Bell again.
‘So, when you got to other side of the Folds,’ asked Hardacre, ‘did you
teleport home?’
John nodded.
‘I was very ill, and almost completely out of it. Someone put me to bed
and the next thing that I knew, Glynn was looking after me’
Hardacre’s eyebrows twitched just a little.
‘Really – Captain Eistedd – of course; I should have known that he’d
turn up’
John made a dismissive gesture with his hand.
‘Anyway…’ he continued. ‘…Celia and Owen were there along with Glynn.
It seems that my activities in the vault had caused some form of space-time
anomaly and they were sorting it out’
Hardacre looked worried.
‘Where were they all staying? There was barely a room in the house that
was in a suitable state for guests’
John’s eyes widened slightly. He pressed on.
‘They seem to have to have sorted it out now, or at least they have it
under control. It looks like Kinspit won’t be pulled into the Outer Void after
all, I don’t remember them mentioning whether the beds in the guest rooms had
been aired, however, but next time you see them you can ask them yourself’
Hardacre blanched slightly.
‘I’m sorry sir’ he said a little bashfully, ‘old habits do die hard’
Regardless of what he’d just said, however, there was a part of his
mind that had a vision of cold rooms with unmade beds and, inevitably, of piles
of unwashed and unsorted laundry.
‘You were telling me about Captain Eistedd, the nurse’ he said,
instantly recovering.
‘I was half unconscious and delirious when I arrived at home,
apparently, and he looked after me all the time for several days. It really was
awfully kind and considerate’
‘Delirious, you say, sir?’
‘I suppose so’
John stopped abruptly, realising that he’d fallen into a trap, not only
now but also then.
‘Oh dear’ he muttered.
Hardacre probed further.
‘Correct me if I’m wrong, sir, but when one is delirious one tends to
speak uncontrollably about many subjects, is that not so?’
John sighed and folded his arms. Hardacre was unstoppable.
‘I wonder what sorts of things you blurted out to the glamorous
captain, during the time he was so solicitous towards you. I would be really
interested to know – perhaps we might ask the Ethian consul, Mr Ridgeway, who
is, of course, the Captain’s superior, or perhaps even his superior – Lady
Anne’
John admitted defeat.
‘It’s in the mahogany wardrobe in the dressing room’ he said wearily.
‘I know’ said Hardacre, ‘I will take it to the tailors as soon as we
get back’
Kath had watched this exchange with astonishment.
‘Excuse me. What are you two talking about?’
‘A wager’ explained Hardacre, ‘and a long story’
‘Have you finished?’ she asked.
Both of the two men nodded.
‘Good’ she said, shaking her head. She walked up to John.
‘I need that scroll – as soon as possible. I have an elephant to
activate’
***
There were
whirlwind introductions and explanations that John only partially followed. He
was particularly baffled by Rem, but had no time to ask anything yet. Also,
that western elf in the vault, where had she come from? And why was there a
bell ringing? He gave up trying to understand fully, for the time being, and
allowed himself to be pulled along by events. He’d have to pick up the necessary
details as he went along.
They left Viola and Fred to share the bell duties and made their way
back to Potentilla in the Vault. Kath kept up an extraordinary pace and the
others struggled behind, particularly John who was weak from his Helios tribulations
and from his recent teleport. Hardacre was at hand to help him across the worst
of the rubble.
Kath excitedly showed the Autelephas to John. He walked round it
several times, studying it very closely. After a moment’s thought, he took
Quiena’s scroll out of his cloak, where he had kept it hidden for so long, and rolled
it out onto the wooden floor of the Vault. The others crowded round to look at
it.
‘The likeness is remarkable’ murmured Hardacre
A low hum of agreement filled the vault.
John turned to Kath. He picked the scroll up and handed it to her.
‘Please feel free to use it, Dr Fielding’
Kath needed no encouragement. She carried the scroll very carefully up on
to the back of the Autelephas. She slotted the scroll into the shallow tray. It
fitted perfectly. She waited.
At first nothing happened. The beautifully illuminated scroll sat in
its niche staring up at Kath, but refusing to change in any way. Then it began
to glow, first with a red light and then a deep green one. The light flickered
in the enormous vault and then it was as if the radiance emitted by the scroll
was liquefying, so that a green phosphorescence started to accumulate in the
tray. The liquid looked strange, powerful and dangerous. Kath wriggled backward
awat from it but still had her eyes glued to what was happening.. The other
watchers below were craning their necks, desperately trying to see what was
going on.
‘Are you making progress, Dr Fielding?’ shouted up John.
Kath said nothing but just gestured for him to stay exactly where he
was.
The green liquid began to seep down into the elephant, apparently
through a network of small conduits that radiated through its body. The green
glowed through the silver metal so that the inside of the automaton was
visible. The way that the network formed in the automaton’s centre looked like
an ever enlarging bushy plant growing downwards. As the plant grew the Autelephas began to
twitch, so alarmingly that Kath was too scared to stay on top of it.
She jumped down among the others and they scattered, slightly panicked.
They ran uncertainly across to the entrance to the Vault and looked back. The
elephant was now apparently full of the green liquid, from tusk to toe and it
was shivering, almost as if it were cold. Everyone looked at Kath.
‘Dr Fielding’ said Hardacre
softly, ‘I think you’ll have to go back to try to operate it’
Kath tiptoed back into the Vault, sweat breaking out on her forehead
and with a sick feeling in her stomach. She knew what she had to do – the
dwarves’ technical papers had made it clear where a rider had to sit and even
how they might move the thing, although the controls that were illustrated in
the manuals had never been visible to her.
She approached the Autelephas very carefully. She held her hand up
against the green glow of the creature’s plant branches that now looked more
and more like a visible blood system. She noticed that internal glow was
beginning to fade, except at the joints where the green was very clearly
visible.
‘That’s just like Boris!’ said John.
‘What?’ said Kath, annoyed to be distracted by such an apparently
irrelevant comment.
‘Sorry’ said John, lifting up his hand, up rather sheepishly, ‘It’s
very like another Dwarven Magic automaton I saw recently – please carry on…’
Kath very gingerly placed her hand against the body of the elephant. It
seemed to vibrate slightly more, almost as if it welcomed, in some strange way,
a humanoid touch.
climbed up very carefully, all
her senses working at their highest pitch; excitement and terror mixing exhaustingly
in her stomach. She got to the top and looked down on the scroll. The elephant
illustration had now disappeared to be replaced by the patterns shown on the
technical manual. There were the controls, and so – now the beast should move.
She sat on the small projection which acted as a seat and she placed
her hands on the scroll. She pressed down on the symbol that controlled the
tusks. The Autelephas’s head reared upwards and the tusks scraped briefly against
the ceiling. The vault shook; it felt like a small earthquake. Then the head
stopped abruptly and there was a terrible screeching sound.
She pressed the symbol to make the legs move and a similar thing
happened. The front left leg moved a few inches forward and then stopped, with
the same horrible sound of metal scraping against metal. Kath lifted her hands
from the scroll. She felt an awful sense of disappointment. After all their
struggles, the bloody thing still didn’t work.
She clambered down again and walked over to the left foot. She inspected
it and then got out her tool bag. The others crowded round her. For a good ten
minutes she said nothing and no-one said anything to her as she prodded with
tools and the rod. Eventually it all got too much for Potentilla.
‘Can you fix it Kath?’ she asked, ‘say that you can, please!’
Kath looked up and for a moment they waited anxiously for her answer.
Then she smiled.
‘Yes’ she said, ‘I think that I can’
‘What’s wrong with it?’ asked John
‘All of its joints are seized up, and I’ll have to fix one at a time.
It’s not difficult; it just requires me to take out the central pinions, re-grease
them and then re-prime them’
‘How long will it take to fix each one?’ asked Hardacre
‘Ten minutes, perhaps’ Kath said, visibly relaxing.
‘And how many joints are there to mend?’
‘About twenty’ she said
‘That’s not too bad’ said John, ‘It sounds doable’
She nodded happily.
‘We’ll be fine’ she said confidently, ‘I’ll start straightaway’
They all breathed a little more easily for the first time in weeks.
Quiena’s weapon would surely be unstoppable once it was finally working again.
A moment later the bell above them slowed and then stopped momentarily.
In the ensuing silence they heard southern horns sounding clear and loud,
through the open vault door. Then the bell started up again. Everyone ran
helter-skelter out of the Vault to meet this new danger, except Kath who,
fumbling with her tools, began to fix the automaton joint by joint. The others all knew that now they had to buy
her enough time.
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