The Great Brain Robbery, page 18
The track turned at right angles at the base of the tower, heading straight up the outside wall, and as they reached it, Stonker reached for a dial above the fireplace, labeled THIS WAY UP. This was the train’s Negotiable Gravity drive, and it allowed them to make their way up the sheer face of the tower as though they were still on the ground.
They crested the summit and came to an abrupt halt in the circular courtyard inside the uppermost battlements. The torches on the gatehouse cast a baleful green glow over the scene. Suzy took a deep breath.
“Keep the boiler warm. I’ll be as quick as I can.”
But Ursel reared up on her hind legs. “Grrrunk hurf grrrrnf,” she said.
“Quite,” said Stonker. “We can’t let you go in there alone. Especially not after that mess at the farm. We’re coming with you. Moral support and all that.”
Suzy was so touched, and so relieved, that she couldn’t find anything to say. At last, she settled for “Thank you.”
“No thanks necessary,” said Stonker, straightening his cap and the ends of his mustache. “The crew of the Express sticks together. And you never know, we might be able to help.”
“There’s one thing you can do straightaway,” she said.
“Name it.”
She held out a hand. “New socks, please.”
* * *
The wind cut through Suzy’s greatcoat as she led the way across the courtyard, being careful not to meet the eyes of any of the statues as she went. Despite their stillness, she could not escape the idea that they were watching her.
She reached the gatehouse and knocked on the heavy iron doors. Her fist hardly made a sound against the thick metal, but she knew from past experience that Crepuscula would have heard it.
“Maybe she’s not in,” said Stonker hopefully. Behind him, Ursel stood with her back to the door, not trusting the statues enough to let them out of her sight.
Suzy stepped away from the doors in anticipation and jumped in fright as she realized Crepuscula’s pet gargoyle was staring down at her from its perch above the lintel. She had forgotten all about it.
“That’s quite some guard dog,” said Stonker.
The gargoyle didn’t move, and Suzy, buoyed by her friends’ presence, gathered her courage and fixed it with a glare, daring it to react. It didn’t—it just looked down on her with lifeless black glass eyes.
“If Crepuscula’s not here, we’re in trouble,” she said, studying her reflection in them.
“You’re always in trouble,” said a familiar voice that brought Suzy’s thoughts crashing to a halt. “You seem incapable of being in anything else.”
They all started back. The great doors had opened without a sound, revealing the small, hunched figure of the Lady Crepuscula. She stalked toward Suzy, leaning on a cane for support. She wore her usual heavy black lace dress, her lilac eyes hard and steady in her ghostly white face. Suzy met them unflinchingly, not willing to be intimidated.
“Lady Crepuscula,” she said, nodding in greeting. “We need your help.”
Crepuscula took their group in at a glance. She did not seem very impressed. “What have you done this time?”
“Nothing,” said Suzy. “But Trollville is in danger.”
She could sense immediately that she had caught Crepuscula’s interest.
“I had heard talk of an earthquake.”
“The talk is true,” said Suzy. “And there’s going to be another one. We think we can stop it, but we need some information, and fast. We need to speak to Lord Meridian.”
She did her best not to squirm as Crepuscula raised an eyebrow and regarded her coldly. She could hear the others shuffling uncomfortably behind her.
“Well,” said Crepuscula at long last. “I suppose you’d better come in.”
* * *
Suzy and the others followed Crepuscula into the gatehouse. In stark contrast to the black stonework outside, the interior was sleek, off-white, and elegant, and filled with a warm glow that seemed to seep out of the walls themselves. Crystal chandeliers hung at intervals from the ceiling, and the floor was paved in black and white squares, like a giant chess board. Ursel’s claws clicked and clattered against them as she walked.
This was as much of the tower as Suzy had ever seen before, so she couldn’t contain a slight thrill of excitement when Crepuscula led the way across the room and through a doorway into a short hall, at the end of which a spiral staircase swept down into the body of the tower.
“Consider yourselves very fortunate,” Crepuscula said as she descended the stairs. “Very few people see the inside of the tower. And even fewer ever leave it again.” She looked back over her shoulder and gave them a sharp little smile. Suzy couldn’t tell if she was joking or not.
The stairs brought them to a chamber that seemed to stretch out almost forever in every direction. It was only when she saw copies of herself and the others staring back from around the room that Suzy realized it was nothing more than an optical illusion; huge mirrors in tarnished gold frames covered most of the walls, stretching from floor to ceiling. Their glass was slightly tinted, so the reflections they cast seemed to recede into distant shadow. It gave Suzy the unnerving feeling that something might be lurking in their depths, waiting and watching.
“Stay here,” Crepuscula snapped, and pointed at an empty spot of floor in the middle of the room. The others gathered around Suzy in a tight huddle, and they watched as Crepuscula crossed to one of the enormous mirrors. As she approached it, the shadows in the depths of its reflection welled up like smoke and rushed toward the surface of the glass. Suzy instinctively took a step back and wasn’t surprised when the others did the same. The shadows deepened, smothering the glass until nothing was left but a sheet of utter darkness.
Crepuscula gave a grunt of satisfaction. “I’ll be back momentarily,” she said. “Whatever you do, don’t touch the mirrors.” Without waiting for a response, she crossed to the mirror and stepped right into it. The darkness swallowed her whole.
It took a moment before anyone felt ready to speak.
“What do you suppose is through there?” said Stonker as Ursel examined herself in one of the neighboring mirrors. Her fur was almost entirely yellow again now, with just her ears and the tip of her muzzle retaining their original color. She nodded at her reflection, apparently satisfied.
Suzy thought she could hear faint sounds drifting out of the black space where the mirror had been—strange gibberings and muffled screams, weeping and the occasional cackle. “I’m not sure I want to know,” she said.
Crepuscula returned, stepping back over the frame with a rustle of black lace and a click of her cane against the tiles. The darkness receded from the mirror behind her, and the sounds, if they had ever been real at all, faded with it.
“Here he is,” said Crepuscula, crossing to a small occasional table beside one of the mirrors. “Aybek? You have visitors.” She set down a small sphere of glass and stood back with a look of satisfaction.
“He’s still a snow globe?” said Suzy.
“Oh no,” said the snow globe. “Not you. Can’t I suffer in peace?”
A large portion of Suzy’s fear evaporated at that moment. She had been expecting to confront Lord Meridian face-to-face, as she had two months ago in the Ivory Tower. She had barely escaped with her life then, and the memory of it still lurked in the back of her mind, exerting its own strange gravity. He had tried to kill her and her friends, and that was something she had never quite come to terms with.
But this was different. Here he was, trapped in the form of a novelty snow globe, looking out at the world through the eyes of a gaudy ceramic frog. Not exactly her idea of threatening.
She broke free of the others and approached the table, and was about to address the snow globe when she realized she didn’t know how. “Lord Meridian was your title while you were keeper of the Ivory Tower,” she said. “But you’re not keeper anymore. So what should I call you?”
“Call him anything you want,” said Crepuscula with a decidedly smug grin. “He can’t stop you.”
“Do you see what I’ve had to put up with?” said the snow globe. “I’m not to be left a single scrap of dignity.” It sighed. “My name is Aybek. I suppose that will have to do.”
“Aybek,” said Suzy, testing the word in her mouth. It felt strange to be on first-name terms with her archenemy all of a sudden. “We know all about the Brain Storm.”
Aybek couldn’t change the frog’s expression, but she got the distinct impression he would have rolled its eyes if he had been able.
“Oh, that,” he said. “I suppose someone was bound to find it sooner or later. But what does it have to do with you?”
“It asked me to come here,” Suzy said.
Aybek paused. “What do you mean, it asked you?”
“It’s alive,” she said. “I’ve met it and spoken to it. It’s conscious.”
“As much as I’m enjoying this touching reunion,” said Crepuscula, “would you mind explaining yourself?”
As quickly and concisely as she could, Suzy related her experiences, from the first earthquake at Trollville, to Cloud Forge, and finally her encounter with the Brain Storm above the Western Fenlands. As she spoke, Crepuscula’s expression darkened until, at last, she plucked Aybek off the table and shook him violently. Aybek, for his part, endured the treatment without comment, until Crepuscula finally stopped.
“Did that help?” he said dryly.
“No, but it was immensely satisfying,” she replied, glaring in at him through the glass. “Just when I thought you couldn’t cause any more trouble, you go and do this. You made a copy of yourself?”
“Apparently so,” said Aybek. “Although as young Miss Smith explained, it wasn’t my intention. It’s all terribly interesting, wouldn’t you say? And I applaud Tenebrae’s efforts to make a name for himself. I’m sure he’ll go far.” He chuckled, for which Crepuscula subjected him to another shaking.
“Stop it,” said Suzy. “We’re wasting time.”
Crepuscula glared at her.
Suzy held out her hand. “Give him to me.”
Crepuscula’s lip curled into a sneer. “You’re welcome to him,” she said, and plopped the snow globe into Suzy’s outstretched palm. “If you were to drop him, I’m sure no one would mind.”
Suzy held Aybek carefully in both hands and turned her back on Crepuscula. Ursel and Stonker gathered around her, and she held the snow globe up so they could all see it. “Aybek,” she said. “I know we don’t like each other—”
“Something of an understatement,” he said.
“—but this is important. The future of Trollville is in danger, and you’re the only one who can help.”
“And why, precisely, would I want to do that?”
Suzy looked around the circle of faces, too stunned to answer.
“Grrrrrunf,” said Ursel.
“Yes, exactly,” said Stonker. “Because it’s the right thing to do.”
“You people still don’t understand, do you?” said Aybek. “I spent a considerable amount of time and effort trying to move the Union beyond the ridiculous limitations of troll technology. It’s all so hopelessly outdated. Quite frankly, the best thing that could happen to Trollville is its total destruction.”
“You take that back, sir!” snapped Stonker, his mustache bristling.
Suzy brought Aybek up to her eye line in an effort to steer the conversation back on course. “But your plan to control the Union has already failed,” she said. “Losing Trollville won’t make any difference to that now.”
“Perhaps not,” said Aybek. “But I will take a deep personal satisfaction from it.” She could hear the cruel smile in his voice, and suddenly understood why Crepuscula was so fond of shaking him.
“Please. Somewhere in the ancient caves beneath Trollville is a vault full of treasure. A gang of criminals led by Egolius Tenebrae is trying to break into it, and they’re going to shake the city apart in the process. We need to know where the dome is so we can stop them.”
“My lips are sealed,” said Aybek.
“How can I change your mind?” she asked.
“Certainly not with threats,” he said. “I’ve got nothing left to lose, after all. But it strikes me that I have a lot to gain, if you’re willing to give it to me.”
Crepuscula launched herself into the middle of the group, swatting Ursel and Stonker aside with her cane. “No!” she snapped. “Absolutely out of the question. Hand him over. It’s time to put him back in the cupboard.”
Suzy held Aybek out of her reach. “You’ve been keeping him in a cupboard all this time?”
“Between the rat poison and the toilet paper,” said Aybek. “She takes me out once a week and forces me to listen to her play the violin.”
Stonker blinked in surprise. “I didn’t know you could play the violin.”
“I can’t,” said Crepuscula. “That’s the beauty of it. Now hand him over, girl.”
“No.” Suzy backed away. “Not until he gives us what we need.”
“You’re not in a position to negotiate,” said Crepuscula. Her shadow, which lay pooled at her feet, twitched and darkened. “Give him to me. I’ll get the information out of him, one way or another.”
“No!” shouted Aybek. “I will deal with Miss Smith, or no one at all.”
Crepuscula’s shadow spread like an ink stain toward Suzy, who darted out of reach. She knew that to step in it was to be sucked down into a lightless prison, where Crepuscula put anyone who annoyed her.
“What is it you want?” Suzy asked.
“I want my dignity back,” said Aybek. “I want to be returned to my true form.”
“Out of the question,” said Crepuscula. “You don’t get to dictate terms to anyone.”
“I do if you want to save Trollville,” he said. “It’s your choice, Selena. Which is more important to you—saving the city, or maintaining this petty little grievance of ours?”
Suzy retreated with the snow globe to the far side of the chamber, and the shadow kept coming, surrounding her until she was backed against a mirror. Ursel reared up on her hind legs and gave Crepuscula a warning growl, while Stonker edged to as safe a distance as he could manage.
“I will not ask you again, Suzy Smith,” said Crepuscula. “Hand him over or face the consequences.”
Suzy fought to keep her heartbeat under control as the patch of floor on which she stood was eaten away by the encroaching shadow. Even through her uniform, the mirror against her back felt unnaturally cold. There was no escape left.
“I promise I’ll face whatever consequences you want,” she said. “After we’ve saved Trollville.” The shadow wrapped its freezing tendrils around her legs, and she shut her eyes, waiting for it to swallow her.
The icy fingers paused and then withdrew. When Suzy opened her eyes, the room had returned to normal, and Crepuscula’s shadow was just a smudge at her feet once again.
The old woman sighed. “I suppose I was going to restore him to his true form after a few years anyway,” she said. “So I might as well get it over with.”
“You really mean it?” said Suzy.
“Of course I do,” Crepuscula shot back. “Now hurry up, before I change my mind.”
Suzy drew a shaking breath, then rushed to Crepuscula’s side. Aybek apparently knew better than to press his luck, because he remained silent as Crepuscula plucked him from Suzy’s hands, whispered a quick incantation, and threw the snow globe at the floor.
Instead of smashing, it unfolded in the blink of an eye, and Aybek was suddenly standing among them, as though he had always been there. He looked exactly the same as his Brain Storm counterpart—silver hair, gray suit, and a black walking cane, much like Crepuscula’s. He dusted himself down and straightened his cuffs.
“Thank you,” he said. “That’s much better.”
“Only for you,” said Crepuscula. “And before you think I’ve forgotten, I’ll take that cane, thank you very much.”
“Of course.” He offered it to her with a bow.
“You’ve got what you wanted,” said Suzy. “Now tell us what we need to know.”
“But there’s so very much you need to know, Miss Smith,” he said. “You’ll have to be more specific.”
Suzy almost stamped her foot in frustration. “Just tell us where Tenebrae and his team are drilling for gold!” she said.
“I’m afraid I can’t.”
“What?” Fury leaped in Suzy. “Why not?”
“Because there is no gold beneath Trollville. There never has been.” Aybek gave a smile of genuine satisfaction. “The Brain Storm is lying to you.”
19
GETAWAY
Wilmot had given up on thinking of ways to escape when it became clear that the ropes holding him and Frederick to the stalagmite were too well tied. Instead, he had spent the last ten minutes trying to figure out how to reach the itch between his eyebrows. He was experimenting with waggling them extra hard when Frederick turned and whispered in his ear.
“Don’t look now, but I’ve just spotted Mr. Trellis.”
“Oh! Where?” Wilmot was so excited that he forgot to keep his voice down. Luckily, the trolls were all intent on repairing the drill and didn’t overhear them. Tenebrae was circling above the vault, possibly in an effort to intimidate Reggie and his team into working faster.
“He’s over by the tunnel mouth where they brought me in,” Frederick whispered. “No, don’t look!”
Wilmot couldn’t help himself. Without moving his head, he glanced over. At first he saw nothing. Then the scrawny figure of Mr. Trellis slipped from behind a stalagmite and scuttled into the mouth of the tunnel leading to the Swoop. He turned and, seeing Wilmot and Frederick watching, gave them a cheery wave.
“What’s he doing?” hissed Frederick.
“I think he’s escaping,” Wilmot replied.
“But how?” Frederick sounded nonplussed. “That tunnel’s a dead end.”
