by P. G. Bell
“Stonker, hit the brakes!” cried Frederick.
Stonker jumped in surprise. “What the blazes?”
While he stared in dismay at Frederick, Ursel reached past him and yanked the brake lever. The Express lurched to a halt, throwing them all to the floor. Maxwell’s cage swung on its hook, spilling lentils everywhere.
“Nooooooo!” the demon exclaimed. “You made me lose count! That’s not fair!”
“Ouch,” said Suzy’s dad, rubbing his head. “What was that for?”
“I’m sorry,” said Frederick. “But Neoma’s on the line. She’s been tracking Suzy and Wilmot, and the Gold Stamp Special’s still giving off a signal even outside the Union. She’s got their exact location.”
“Great Scott!” said Stonker. “Let’s have it, then.”
“Thank you for finally asking,” said Neoma as Frederick set the phone to speaker mode. “I don’t recognize the world they’re on, and we haven’t got any maps left for me to look it up, but I can send you the coordinates if that phone of yours can receive spells.”
“Thrronf grulf rrrrrunk,” said Ursel.
“She says it’s a top-of-the-range Ether Web connection,” said Stonker. “Send it through.”
“Roger that,” said Neoma.
The line buzzed. It sounded like a large and angry wasp was trying to crawl out of the receiver. Then several wasps. Then a swarm. Frederick held the receiver at arm’s length as it started to glow. With a chorus of buzzes, burps, warbles, and pops, the spell emerged into the cab.
It started as a sphere of blue light the size of a Ping-Pong ball that drifted up into the air. Then it began to expand, taking on more detail and color as it grew. Frederick saw landmasses and expanses of ocean emerge on the globe’s surface, half-hidden by swirls of white cloud. It was a glowing image of a planet, and it expanded until it almost filled the cab, forcing them all to shuffle back to the edges of the room.
“Hrumph,” said Ursel.
“I agree,” said Stonker. “What an odd-looking place for Hydroborea to end up.”
“This is it,” came Neoma’s voice from the receiver. “The exact location of the book is marked with a beacon.” A winking speck of golden light appeared near the top of the globe, just inside the mass of ice that capped the northern pole.
“That can’t be right,” said Suzy’s dad. “Hydroborea definitely isn’t there.”
“I triple-checked it,” said Neoma. “That’s where the book is.”
“I’m not talking about the gold dot,” said Suzy’s dad. “I’m talking about the planet. You’ve got the wrong one.”
“How d’you know?” asked Fletch.
Suzy’s parents looked around in consternation. “Don’t you recognize it?” said Suzy’s mom. “That’s our planet. That’s the earth!”
Stonker regarded the image of the earth floating in the Belle’s cab with mild suspicion. “Are you absolutely certain?” he asked.
“We can recognize our own planet when we see it,” said Suzy’s dad.
“But it’s just a big ball,” said Stonker. “It didn’t feel very round when we were standing on it earlier. Why didn’t we all slide off?”
“Because our gravity always works in the right direction,” said Suzy’s mom. “Unlike some worlds I could mention.”
“Hey,” said Fletch. “Jus’ cuz your gravity’s borin’, don’t go knockin’ ours.”
Frederick looked again at the golden beacon. “But if this is your world, how did the H.E.C. get there from the void storm? And why did Suzy go home when she’s supposed to be looking for Hydroborea?”
“She’d better not be sitting on her sofa with her feet up,” said Neoma, her voice tinny and distant through the telephone. “The Union’s had its identity wiped clean and people are going to start rioting once they find out. We need those words back, and quickly.”
“We’ll head straight to Suzy’s house and see what’s happening,” said Stonker, reaching for the controls.
“Wait a minute,” said Suzy’s mom. “That dot’s nowhere near our house. It’s practically at the North Pole.”
Stonker paused with his hand on the brake lever. “And you don’t live at this North Pole?”
“No one lives there,” said Suzy’s dad. “It’s too cold and empty.”
“Then why take the book there?” asked Frederick. “Is there any way to zoom in on the beacon?
“I think you just prod it,” said Neoma.
Ursel, being the tallest in the cab, reached up and jabbed the beacon with a claw. The globe dispersed into a shower of brilliant sparks, which re-formed a moment later into a flat bird’s-eye view of crinkly coastlines and a sea full of ice floes, cracked and jagged like broken glass.
“Suzy’s under all that?” said her dad, his voice tightening. “But that’s even worse than the void storm!”
“Do you think she tried to get home?” said Suzy’s mom. “Oh, what if she changed her mind and tried to get back to us, and it all went wrong?”
“Sir, madam, control yourselves,” said Stonker. “We don’t know what’s happened, but if that’s where Suzy, the Postmaster, and the Chief are to be found, then that is where we will go. Fletch, can you sort out a tunnel for us?”
Fletch studied the map and smacked his lips. “Should be easy enough now I’ve got coordinates,” he said.
“Leave it to us, Neoma,” said Frederick. “We’re already on our way.”
25
RETURN TO THE TOWER
The avenue leading to the tower was already a sea of refugees, all clamoring and shouting and surging forward together, as if eager to be swallowed by the huge stone frog’s head. It was chaotic, and Suzy heard the cries of the crowd as Tenebrae flew her and Ina through the late evening darkness overhead.
“Open the doors! Let us in!”
“Where’s Frogmaggog? Why isn’t he doing anything?”
“Please! The waters are rising! We need help!”
As they approached the carved stone head of the tower’s gateway, she saw a row of Watch Frogs doing their best to keep the crowd at bay, but it was clear at a glance that they were fighting a losing battle. The crush of people was too great, and despite a makeshift barricade of S-Cargo Units, the Watch Frogs were being pressed back against the crimson doors. She spotted Commander Kecker in their midst, but luckily he was too distracted to notice them as Tenebrae swooped overhead and alighted on a window ledge high up in the throne room wall.
“Do you know where Frogmaggog put the book?” Suzy asked.
“No,” said Tenebrae. “There’s a staircase at the rear of the throne room that leads up through the tower, and I’ve overheard Frogmaggog and the guards discussing some sort of magical chamber before, but I’ve never seen it.” He pushed the window open and a puff of perfumed steam escaped: orange blossom, Suzy noted.
She put a finger to her lips and leaned in. Through the swirling mists she saw Frogmaggog below them. Her insides churned at the very sight of him. He was wallowing in his bath again and bellowing directions at the teams of Watch Frogs who scurried in and out of the steam. The clouds parted for a moment and she saw Amlod and the other prisoners, corralled within a loose ring of guards.
“Bunch of incompetents!” Frogmaggog roared. “Double the guard at the gates and disperse that rabble. I want them back in their homes.”
“But, Your Greatness,” said one of the Watch Frogs, pausing in front of the bathtub. “The people are running out of homes to disperse to. Half the Midtwist district is already underwater, and if you don’t use your magic soon, the city might—”
He didn’t get to finish his sentence before Frogmaggog’s tongue lashed out and snapped him up. The prisoners cried out in horror, and Ina turned away in disgust.
“I will use my magic when I see fit,” Frogmaggog declared. “Until then, the people need to pull themselves together. How can they call themselves Hydroboreans if they’re scared of a little water?”
“He’s unhinged!” whispered Ina. “We
’ve got to get Amlod and the others out of there.”
“We won’t last ten seconds without the book to help us,” Suzy replied. “We have to find it and open it. That’s the only thing that will solve all this.”
Tenebrae clacked his beak impatiently. “Hurry up and find it, then,” he said. “And before you do, I need to show Frogmaggog something to make him think you won’t be bothering him again.”
His words made Suzy’s skin crawl, but she unpinned her blank Impossible Postal Service badge and handed it to him. “Use this,” she said. “Frogmaggog should recognize it. But how are we going to get down?”
Tenebrae slipped the badge into his pocket. He waited until the clouds of steam obscured Frogmaggog once more, then grabbed Suzy and Ina by the arms. “Don’t scream.”
“Why would we scr—” Ina began, only for Tenebrae to tip forward through the window and plunge with them both headfirst toward the throne room floor.
Suzy didn’t need to worry about screaming—she was too scared to even draw breath. A second before the splattering crunch of impact, Tenebrae spread his wings and glided silently into the shadows beneath the bathtub. No cries of alarm went up. They had made it.
“Hurry,” he whispered. Then he was gone again, stealing out from beneath the bath and launching himself toward the rim. Frogmaggog’s voice rang out, horrifyingly close, as Suzy and Ina crept away toward the rear of the throne room, hand in hand.
“Ah, my pet has returned. Did you take care of our little problem?”
“Would I have come back empty-handed?” Tenebrae said. “I told you I’d get the job done. Here’s your proof.”
Suzy risked looking over her shoulder. She saw the back of Frogmaggog’s huge head above them as the Master of Magic raised a hand to accept her badge from Tenebrae.
“Excellent,” said Frogmaggog. “It’s nice to see you outworlders can be properly trained. Now get back into your cage until I need you again.”
Tenebrae gave a weary nod and flew up to the cage hanging beneath the chandelier before the steam closed around Suzy and Ina, hiding him from sight. Suzy was glad. She didn’t want to feel any sympathy for Tenebrae, but she couldn’t help feeling disgusted at his treatment. As ruthless and savage as the owl man was, Frogmaggog was worse in every way.
They stole through the steam, navigating by sound to avoid the hurrying Watch Frogs, until they reached the rear of the throne room, where a sweeping spiral staircase led them up into the main body of the Gilded Tower.
Waves of magical energy pulsed through the gold veins in the marble, racing upward.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen so much raw magic in one place,” said Suzy as they climbed. “It’s incredible.”
“I told you Frogmaggog was hoarding it all,” said Ina. “There’s enough for the whole city here.”
“Then why doesn’t he use it to stop the flooding?” Suzy asked. “It doesn’t make sense.”
They ducked behind a marble statue of a seahorse as a troop of Watch Frogs thundered downstairs, heading for the throne room. When the coast was clear, they moved on and soon reached a circular landing from which four passageways led.
“Which way now?” said Suzy. “It could be anywhere.”
“Wait a second,” said Ina. “Let me try something.” She pulled her notepad and pen from her pocket and scribbled HELLO! in big, untidy letters. Then she held the notepad up and waited.
“What are you doing?” said Suzy, casting an anxious glance back down the stairs.
Then, very slowly, Ina’s handwriting peeled off the notepad and dissolved into dark smoke, which spiraled away down one of the passages. “There,” said Ina. “Follow that word!”
* * *
Wilmot carried another stack of filthy bowls to the sink in the corner of the Sanctum, and did his best to look casual as he glanced at the two Watch Frogs standing guard at the door. They glared back at him, and he hurried about his business, carrying a jarful of glowing green eyeballs to Aybek, who was hunched over an earthenware jug at his workbench.
“Here are the kraken eggs you asked for,” Wilmot said. He set the jar down and tried not to squirm too much as the eyeballs all swiveled to follow him.
“Thank you.” Aybek squeezed a few drops of liquid from a sea sponge into the jug, and its contents started burning with a steady green flame. “I think this is ready now. It just needs to simmer for a bit.” He set the jug carefully aside and straightened with a groan.
Wilmot inspected the other contents of the bench. Besides the flaming jug, Aybek had concocted two miniature tornadoes of swirling darkness, which he had trapped in a pair of glass bottles. Even more curious.
“Hey, you. Outworlder,” said one of the Watch Frogs. “What’s that stuff you’re making? It looks dangerous.”
Aybek smiled warmly. “I’m simply following Frogmaggog’s orders,” he said. “These are all necessary unbinding agents for opening The Book of Power.”
Wilmot frowned. Whatever these spells were, he knew they had nothing to do with unbinding the book. But as he still had no idea what Aybek’s escape plan was, he could only guess what role they might actually end up playing. Aybek certainly wasn’t willing to tell him, which only made him more suspicious. He would have to stay alert.
“And what about them?” said the other guard, pointing with his trident to the Hydroborean prisoners, who had retreated back into the shadows.
“They’re minding their own business,” said Aybek. “But I think you’ll find this far more interesting.”
He opened the jar of kraken eggs and selected a particularly fat specimen. It jumped in his palm and spun round to stare at him as he produced a gnarled driftwood wand from a toolbox on the bench. “Observe.” He waved the wand over the egg and muttered a brief incantation. The egg quivered like jelly, and then a slender black tentacle wormed its way out of the top. A second followed, quickly followed by a third and fourth. Each tentacle had its own eyeball on the end, and within a few seconds Aybek was holding a fully formed infant kraken. It flailed its limbs and tried to wrap itself around his arm until he carried it to a nearby fishbowl full of water and dropped it in.
“How did you do that?” demanded the first Watch Frog, halfway between wonder and fear.
“With a simple growth-acceleration spell,” said Aybek. “Soon there’ll be no need to wait for these creatures to mature naturally before you use them in your S-Cargo detention trailers. May I borrow your kraken caller so I can put the beastie through its paces?” He pointed to the silver conch shell on the Watch Frog’s belt.
“Civilians aren’t supposed to use these,” the Watch Frog said.
“I’m not a civilian, I’m an outworlder,” said Aybek. “And if you’d like to explain to Frogmaggog why you stopped me doing important work to help maintain law and order, be my guest.”
The Watch Frog stepped forward and grudgingly unclipped the conch from his belt. “All right,” he said. “But no funny business.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it,” said Aybek.
At that moment a tremor shook the tower, making the jars rattle on the shelves.
“There’s another one,” said the Watch Frog to his fellow. “What d’you think’s going on down there?”
“I don’t know,” his colleague said. “But I don’t like it.”
Wilmot remembered Aybek’s warnings about the fate of the city and felt his pulse quicken. I hope you’re safe out there, Suzy, he thought. I could really use your help right now.
The thought was still in his head when he turned to replace the jar of kraken eggs and saw the Chief’s glowing blue face poking through the door. Wilmot started so suddenly that he almost dropped the jar, but the guards were too preoccupied with Aybek’s work to notice.
The Chief grinned, gave him a double thumbs-up, and withdrew.
Wilmot dropped the jar on the nearest shelf and hurried back to the workbench, buzzing with excitement. If the Chief was outside, then so was Suzy.
As
casually as he could, he turned to Aybek and said, “I think our delivery has just arrived.”
Aybek raised an eyebrow. “I beg your pardon?”
The Watch Frogs straightened. “What delivery?” said one of them. “We weren’t told about this.”
“I’ve been looking forward to it,” said Wilmot. “It’s an express delivery.” He glanced quickly at Aybek to see if he had understood.
“Ah yes,” said Aybek. “That one. I was beginning to think it would never get here.”
The guards brandished their tridents. “Nothing gets in without us checking it first,” the second one said. “What is it?”
“A convenient distraction,” said Aybek. “Good-bye.” In one quick movement, he picked up the jug with the flaming green substance inside it, and dashed the contents in their faces.
The fire quickly enveloped them in an emerald inferno. Wilmot, appalled, rushed to help them, only to realize that they weren’t actually burning. They were shrinking.
“Hey!” one of them shouted, looking down at his diminishing body. “What have you done to us?”
“I’ve cut you down to size,” said Aybek. “Try not to take it personally.”
“This is an arrestable offense!” said the second guard in a mouse-like squeak as he and his colleague grew smaller and smaller. At last, when they were barely more than two inches tall, the process stopped.
Wilmot approached the minuscule figures, who jumped up and down and waved their tridents angrily at him. “I suppose I’d better put you two somewhere safe before you get trodden on,” he said.
“Yes, I’d hate to go through the rest of my day with Watch Frog on the bottom of my shoe,” said Aybek. “And after that perhaps you’d better let Miss Smith in.”
Wilmot scooped up the protesting Watch Frogs in his hands and dropped them as carefully as he could into an empty jar before hurrying to the door. The moment he unlatched it, it was thrown open from outside and he was almost knocked off his feet by Suzy, who rushed in and threw her arms around him. Ina followed close behind her, and the Chief hovered in the air above them.