Fugitives (The Silent Wars Book 2), page 33
Jade smacked him playfully on the shoulder.
“Egypt. Where’s that?” Kora asked.
“Long way from here. No-go zone nowadays. Too much radiation thanks to the oil wars.”
The driver returned, stopping any further conversation. Another decision they had made was to keep quiet as much as possible when around officials, so as to try and fly under the radar.
The all-terrain bus followed the river for another five minutes, then headed north. It stopped in a clearing covered in vines and weeds.
“Sector Alpha Juliet Sierra.”
“Thank you. Appreciate it.”
“I’ll be back at 1800 hours. You don’t want to miss me. All sorts of nasties roam the streets at night.”
“We’ll be here.”
Once the vehicle had left, Eli took some time getting his bearings. According to the map Dawson had provided them, the driver had deposited them at the southeastern edge of the sector. Their target was a three-kilometre walk north.
“You geezers the engineering team?” a man said, appearing from a small but robust kiosk next to a tarnished sign for the Underground.
“Yes, sir,” Jade said. “Holman?”
“That’s me. And stop with the ‘sir’ nonsense. I ain’t been knighted.” Holman took their commpads and scanned them with a device attached to his wrist. “Gnats, eh? Come for a butcher’s hook?”
“I’m sorry?”
“Look, darling. You lot are ‘aving a look.”
“We are, yes. The next phase in draining the underground railway is starting, and we are testing the integrity of the ground.”
Holman flashed a grin and handed back the commpads. “All right, love. Don’t wander into the next sector.” He dug into the satchel hanging off his right shoulder and counted out six orange bands. “Keep these on your wrists. If a patrol asks you for your pass, this is it. Don’t lose them.”
Nox barked in reply and pawed at something on the ground.
“Ain’t seen a dog like that in a while.”
“Best gas detector we have.”
“I bet. Good luck and stay safe. Check out here before you leave.” Holman spun on his heels and disappeared back inside his kiosk with a wave.
“I’ll take point,” Eli said, shrugging into his backpack and checking his crossbow and taser pistol were secure. The unfamiliar feel of another pistol was on his right hip. Jade had procured modern handguns from her MI9 contact. It wasn’t that it was heavy. More the fact he just wasn’t used to having it there. He shifted the holster so it didn’t snag on the knife Old Patty had given him, and set off.
The hike to Saint Paul’s was uneventful. They had to circle north to approach the cathedral due to the number of collapsed structures. A few black squawking birds buzzed around, shrieking at them, but Eli didn’t spot any other animals in their immediate vicinity.
“This is it,” Jade said.
Spread out over a massive area was a concrete slab in roughly the shape of a cross. The thick vegetation that covered nearly every surface of the surrounding buildings had been cleared there, and farther up the street.
“Over here.” Ley stood near an octagon-shaped building with rusted windows. Broken glass lay in piles around it. On the other side was another building. It had thick wrought-iron gates and was clearly marked St Paul’s Underground. Once part of the famed train service, it now sat abandoned and in need of repair. Part of the roof had collapsed, but when Eli shone his torch inside, he could see a way through the debris.
“The map I have says the boundary of the two cities is not far. The tube tunnel should take us there, depending how flooded it is,” Jade said. “We should split into two teams.”
“And have someone on watch,” Ley said.
“I’ll do it, or whatever,” Kora said.
“Take Nox, then,” Eli said. “He’ll smell anyone coming before you spot them.”
“Stay out of sight, though.” Jade handed Kora an earpiece and showed her how to wear it. “I’ll keep an open channel on. Any sign of anyone, you call it in and hide. Understood? Don’t hesitate.”
“I won’t.”
“Good.”
Nox whimpered a little as Eli, Ley, Colter and Jade pushed past the debris and entered the gloomy remains of the train station. Flocks of pigeons flapped out of a hole in the roof and swirled around. Flinching, Eli stood still. That was exactly the kind of thing that would give away their location. The Watchers found the stairs leading to the underground platforms and made their way down. Thankfully, the platform was clear of rubble and above the floodwater.
Jade flicked her torch in both directions. “Colter and I will go west. You and Ley, take east. The border meets one city in both directions.”
“Wilco. What channel?”
“Delta seven.”
Eli found the frequency and locked it on, then inserted his earpiece. “Test.”
“Copy,” Jade, Ley and Colter answered in quick succession.
Not far from the platform, Eli and Ley came to the edge of the water. Without hesitating, they waded in and were soon up to their knees. Rats shrieked and ran out of the way, and some snakes slithered into the myriad holes and collapsed sections in the tunnel roof. Having grown up in the mines, tunnels were nothing to them. They had confidence in the engineers who had built this place. It had stood for a long time before the city was abandoned and spent an equal amount of time in disuse. Smiling at the thought of exploring somewhere new, Eli sloshed deeper into the passage. A bright white line had been painted on the roof and wall, with lettering proclaiming which side was which city. Nowhere could he see any indication of a warning. Ley used the high definition on her commpad camera to scan over the concrete and brickwork.
“What this?”
Eli took a closer look at the brick she was pointing to. It had an odd symbol of a hammer and square. Above it were three initials: MDA. He shrugged. “Maybe.”
He pressed on the brick in case it was a button to set off some mechanism. Nothing moved. He shrugged again and Ley snapped a few photos. They moved on for another three hundred metres until the water level rose sharply to the roof.
“Eli for Colter.”
“Go for Colter.”
“Anything?”
“Negative. Flooded tunnels and rats. You guys?”
“Ditto. Heading back to the station.”
“Wait,” Ley said. “I’m sending you a photo. See if you guys can make sense of it.”
Jade spoke up after thirty seconds of silence. “Looks like a stonemason’s signature. They used to mark a brick and lay it when they had finished their work.”
“Makes sense,” Ley said. “Heading back.”
“Copy that. On our way.”
When Eli and Ley reached the platform, Ley radioed Kora to let her know they were heading up the stairs. Kora gave the all-clear signal. Nox bounded up to Eli as soon as they were back at ground level. Eli played a game of tug-of-war with Nox and stared at a poster congratulating some athlete at the 2040 London Olympics. The female had five gold medals draped around her neck, and her arms pumped the air. He wondered if any of the people alive then had known what would happen to their city. Had there been warning signs?
Jade and Colter arrived a minute later, wringing dirty water from their clothes.
“Nothing?” Jade said.
“Only the marked brick.” Ley showed the TSS agent the photo again.
“See the date — 1898?”
Eli peered over Ley’s shoulder, and noticed the numbers interwoven into the symbol. “That’s when the tunnel was built?”
“I’d say so, yeah. MDA must be their name. Fisher must be in the crypt. It’s the only place left.”
A deep growl from something heavy flying overhead sounded out.
“Transport,” Kora said from the entrance. Nox barked and ran to stand next to the young woman.
Hustling, Eli hit the entrance and glanced up. A bulky-looking hoverplane rumbled just above the buildings, circled the area, then flew south and landed a few kilometres away.
“Zapata?” Colter asked.
“Most likely. How did that kint get a royal decree?”
“Thule look out for each other,” Jade said.
“I thought the Thule were exclusive to America?”
“The name, but not the tech. The Brits already had an established class system, so nothing changed here. Thule started out as a political party, would you believe?’
“Weird,” Eli said. “Let’s go.”
The concrete slab that covered where Saint Paul’s Cathedral once stood showed the ravages of time, discoloured and streaked with pools of black mould, and hints of an invasive creeping plant. Centipedes, each one about the size of a rifle, scurried over the black growth. A couple stopped their feeding and looked at the humans warily. Jade didn’t seem too bothered by their presence, but Eli unslung his crossbow. Ley found the sealed entrance, and Jade entered the code she had been given. The doors opened with a hiss and Eli was blasted by the pungent stench of decay and stale oxygen that billowed out. The group hurried down the stairs and shone their flashlights over the stone.
Eli found himself in the north entrance, marbled stairs covered in his dusty footprints behind him.
“I don’t want to go in,” Kora said. “This place gives me the creeps.”
“Same as before, then?” Jade said. “You keep watch?”
“Sure.”
“Any sign, you call us. Okay?” Eli said.
“Yeah, I got it.”
The crypt was massive and had obviously been constructed with craftsmanship and honour in mind. Jade and Colter headed right, while Ley and Eli went left again. Directly ahead of Eli was the horse statue with a man astride it that he had seen in the TIVeR. He read the plaque: Duke of Wellington. He gazed at the sculpture. Whoever this guy had been, he must have done something phenomenal to be given such a burial chamber. Snapping a few photos, Eli moved on, taking one side of the vast space while Ley did the same on the other. In the virtual simulation, he had seen memorials to the people buried here. Now that he was here in real life and down in the crypt, Eli saw their resting places and it gave him the creeps. Nowhere did he see any indications of a deeper level, or anything related to cities and a warning. That was what heed meant, wasn’t it? A warning?
Ley met him at the end and shook her head. “Nothing. You?”
“Same. What does heed mean?”
“Warning, why?”
“Maybe it didn’t back in Dr Fisher’s time. You know. How words change over the years.”
“True. Check that data app thingy Jade gave you.”
Eli had the app on his commpad open in seconds and typed the word into the search box. He raised his eyebrows at what he found, then pressed a highlighted blue word saying, Etymology.
“Heed. To warn or give warning.”
“Damn.”
“Wait. There’s more. Says that, in the past, this word meant to take notice or pay attention to something. From the old English word hedan, to observe…”
“All right, professor.” Ley grinned. Eli was sure she felt the same excitement. They were onto something.
“Eli for Jade.”
“Copy.”
Eli quickly told Jade and Colter what they had discovered. “Thoughts?”
“Brilliant. We forgot to allow for the natural changing of language. That means we have to take notice or pay attention to two cities.”
“Still doesn’t make much sense,” Eli said. “It’s just long-dead military men and architects down here.”
“Photograph every name you see and meet back at the entrance.”
“Wilco.”
Eli hurried to finish his side of the crypt, and ruffled Nox’s ears when his dog jumped to meet him at the entrance.
Ley barked out a laugh as she approached and tossed Eli her commpad. “We’ve been so stupid.”
CHAPTER 30
London.
United Kingdom.
“How so?” Eli stared at the image on the screen. It was of the man and horse statue: Duke of Wellington, Arthur Wellesley. 1769–1852. “Some military guy?”
“And more. Was prime minister a couple of times too.”
“Still doesn’t explain heed two cities.”
“But it does.” Ley grinned again, clearly revelling in out-thinking him on this. She had always been better at working a problem laterally. He was too black and white.
“Wait for the others and I’ll explain.”
Kora rushed in from the entrance. “I can hear heavy machines out there.”
“Going past?” Eli said.
“No, like they’re approaching, or whatever. Doesn’t matter anyhow. They’ve stopped.”
Eli and Ley exchanged a concerned look. They weren’t the only ones after Fisher. Should they keep hunting, or retreat and risk Zapata finding the scientist? Colter and Jade arrived out of the gloom, panting slightly from the combination of their brisk walk and the crypt’s stale oxygen.
“Not much down that way. Bunch of centipedes and ants feeding on stuff,” Colter said.
“Any tombs?”
“Tons. Some guy must have been important. Got a massive part all to himself.” Colter showed Eli his commpad: Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson, 1758–1805.
“We found this.” Ley showed Colter and Jade Wellington’s statue. “I think I’ve figured it out. This guy must be really famous, right? Won some important battle or something. I mean, why else get a crypt under this cathedral.”
“Okay, with you so far,” Eli said. Jade nodded, and Colter shrugged like he didn’t care either way.
“And that Nelson guy too. So, it got me thinking. Maybe these guys, Wellington and Nelson, had cities named after them?”
“Maybe. Can we check?”
Jade wrapped Ley in a hug and kissed both of her cheeks. “Genius.”
A deafening, crushing sound rumbled through the crypt, interrupting the Watchers.
“Time to go,” Eli said.
“Professor Obvious,” Colter said.
“We can leave through the rear stairwell, but watch the sinkhole,” Jade said.
“Sinkhole?”
“Part of the floor has sunk beside Nelson’s monument.”
A loud bang sounded out, followed by a deep crunching of metal on stone. To a Watcher from the mines, the noise was as familiar as breathing. They heard it every day. It was the sound of a drill bit biting into stone.
The group hustled west, and Colter pointed out a black and white sarcophagus sitting under a vaulted ceiling of mould-stained marble. Ley snapped a few pictures with her commpad, nodding as Eli waited for her to catch up. “Just in case we missed something.”
Kora yelped in shock as the ceiling at the far end of the crypt cracked, then collapsed as the drill bit broke through. A horde of centipedes scurried from a large hole in the wall opposite the group, disturbed by the machine, and cut off their escape. Kora called out in fright and Eli yanked her behind him as he drew his taser. The centipedes rose on their back legs and, making a weird hissing sound, spat a substance at him. When it touched his skin, he flinched. They spat again, and more landed on him. It immediately sizzled his flesh and burnt through his clothes. From the yelps, Colter, Ley and Jade were discovering the same thing. Eli shot the closest bug before it could spit again. It twisted in a ball and shook. More centipedes crawled over the dead bug and spat at the humans.
“This way!” Jade dived behind a row of busts, scrambled to her feet, and sprinted up a narrow flight of stairs.
Eli shot another bug, then pivoted, loading a fresh charge into his weapons as he reached the stairs moments after Nox and Ley. He could hear the bugs’ tiny scurrying feet behind him, and the weird hissing sound.
As Jade held the door open, the group tumbled out onto the street. Ley kicked out and slammed the door shut.
“Hostiles,” Colter warned.
Eli groaned and leapt up. He spotted the threat straightaway. Heavily armed men stood on the opposite side of the concrete pad. Most were assisting in the unloading of more machinery from flat-bed trucks. Others were trying to extract the drill bit, which had fallen through the concrete. The Watcher’s appearance caught them by surprise, leaving them fumbling for their weapons.
Eli was about to draw his pistol when the centipede horde burst out from the crypt. The armed men on the other side shouldered their rifles and switched their aim from the humans to the insects. As one, they took a step backwards. Others ran forward, and massive, long curtains of flames burst out of the strange staffs they held. The centipedes shrieked as they died en masse.
“Miller!” Ley said.
Eli refocused and tore up the street after his friends. He was pleased to see Jade on point, with Kora wedged between her and Colter. Ley had Nox running beside her as Jade led them south, back towards the river and Cleopatra’s Needle. The first thing they needed to do was find cover. Eli risked a peek over his shoulder and saw that the centipedes had given up the chase. A few still followed, but had slowed their pace considerably, resorting to spitting at the fleeing humans.
Chunks of concrete and brick exploded millimetres above Eli’s head as the armed men opened fire. Diving to the ground, Eli crawled out of the line of fire and took shelter behind the crumbling ruins. A rusted, dented sign lay in front of the long-broken windows. This had been something called Five Guys. The vines, which seemed to cover nearly every surface of the once great city, clung to the collapsed sections.
Ley hauled Eli to his feet as more rounds slammed into the building. “C’mon.”
Sucking in a deep breath, Eli followed.
Jade kept up a furious pace. They ran down narrow alleys and up winding stairs. Through broken out cafes and restaurants. A bank, in which the vault door hung open on black, rust-encrusted hinges. Jade ignored the multitude of large bugs their progress stirred up, and pushed hard until they reached the buildings near the river. Eli glanced behind for what must have been the hundredth time in the last ten minutes. It wasn’t a case of wondering if they were being followed; it was checking how close their pursuers were. A group of armed men reached the intersection a hundred metres away and didn’t stop.
