by M L Dunn
“That an order?”
“It is.”
Red dropped Tom off at a small theater just off Appian Way.
“Meet me at the station at 11:45 sharp. Not a minute later,” he said as Tom climbed out of the car.
Tom looked at the playbill on the theatre as Red drove away. The magician he’d sent him to see had third billing. Tom figured Red was just having him kill some time before they headed out to the Dauntless. Tom went inside the theater then to see The Great and Spectacular Vincelli.
At precisely 11:45, Tom appeared just outside Red’s office carrying his suitcase. His hair was still wet from his visit to The Great Vincelli. Red might have been thinking the cold water Tom had been dunked in repeatedly would cool him off some, but Tom was still mad, and even if Rebecca was perfectly okay, he planned on quitting the force.
Count Vasili, wearing handcuffs, sat across the desk from Red, and Inspector Jones sat next to him. Other than the handcuffs, he was dressed sharply, wearing an expensive suit, matching scarf and a long, lined raincoat.
“Let’s go,” Red said grabbing his suitcase from where it sat next to his desk. Inspector Jones grabbed Count Vasili with one arm and his luggage with the other and led him out the office. All four men headed downstairs and out the front of the building. A photographer snapped their photograph as they came out the building.
Red must have called for a cab already, because a yellow one was waiting for them right outside with its trunk open. Inspector Jones placed Count Vasili in the backseat as Red and Tom placed the luggage in the trunk.
“Keep your eye on him,” Jones said as Tom climbed in the backseat next to the count. Red took the front passenger seat and told the driver to head for the field where the two zeppelins were docked. The driver, a big golem wearing his yellow cabbie hat pulled down over his brow and the collar of his coat turned up, grunted and pulled away from the curb in a hurry.
“We may be on board a couple of days waiting,” Red said. “Until this ordeal with the princess is wrapped up.”
“You don’t mind being out of the loop on that?” Tom asked smartly.
“Chief Rogers and Commander Gates can handle it.”
Just before they turned onto the dirt road that led out to the field, a truck, like the kind the army uses to transport soldiers, turned onto the road before them. Tom looked and saw a bunch of golems in back of it.
A pair of constables stopped the truck as it approached the field where the zeppelins were docked, but as soon as they saw Sergeant Hightower behind the wheel they waved it on. They stopped their taxi next, but waved them on after spotting Red.
They passed by some more officers and then followed the truck out onto the grassy field where a few cows grazed between the two airships. The field was just north of the Black River and a mist came off the river and hung over the field.
Colonel Popov was waiting for them at the bottom of the platform the Dauntless was moored to. He seemed more interested in seeing them arrive than the truck ahead of them, but then the mayor of Transylvania City jumped out of the truck and approached him.
It seemed the mayor was personally delivering a dozen crates of Vamp’s as a goodwill gesture. The golems climbed out of the truck and began grabbing the heavy crates, which were nearly as long as a coffin, and carrying them up the steps toward the other end of the platform where the cargo doors of the zeppelin were located.
“The cab driver will take care of the luggage,” Red told Tom as he climbed out of the taxi. “Just head on over to the ship.”
Red walked up to the mayor and asked him what was going on.
“Good to see you again Red,” the mayor said. “Just delivering some Vamp’s as a parting gift.”
Colonel Popov smiled at Count Vasili as Tom led him, in handcuffs, toward him. A few TCPD constables were stationed at the bottom of the platform and Tom waited by them as Colonel Popov went and thanked the mayor for his gift.
A moment later he returned and gestured for Red and Tom to follow him up to the top of the platform. The cab driver came behind them carrying the luggage, stacked in his arms so that all that showed of his head was the yellow cap he wore. At the top of the platform, Colonel Popov turned around and seemed surprised to see the mayor had followed them there as well. Tom thought the mayor seemed to be angling for a tour of the Dauntless.
Colonel Popov said something in Russian to the sergeant stationed at the end of the gangplank that led into ship and the sergeant looked at the mayor before disappeared inside the airship. Colonel Popov went and apologized to the mayor saying he had other matters to attend to, but that someone would come out and meet him in just a moment. He shook the mayor’s hand and then came back and gestured for Red and Tom, as well as Count Vasili to follow him inside.
“Good day mayor,” Red said tipping his hat at him just before heading across the gangplank.
Once inside the great airship, they followed Colonel Popov down a hallway lined with wood paneling, up some marble steps toward another deck, and then down another hallway. At the end of the hallway two guardsmen were stationed in front of an elaborate wood door, but Colonel Popov led them down another hallway before they reached there.
They went just a little ways then and entered a suite of rooms. Coming off the main room was a couple of very small bedrooms. There was a window that looked out the side of the ship and Tom went there and looked down at the platform they had just been standing on. The sergeant had returned and the mayor was just then shaking hands with the royal butler. The crew of golems was still carrying in the crates of Vamp’s and setting them down inside the cargo hold under the close supervision of some of Colonel’s Popov’s men.
“These will be your rooms while you are on board,” Colonel Popov said making a sweep of the room with his hand. The colonel noticed the cab driver dumping their luggage right at the doorway then and seemed surprised he’d followed them inside the ship.
All Tom could see of the golem, as he stood just outside their room, was his hand. He expected a tip and Red stepped out the room and put a couple of bills in it. The driver grunted then, still holding out his hand out, and Red reluctantly gave him a couple more bills. The driver left then.
“Wait, I escort you out,” Colonel Popov shouted after him, but the driver ignored him and started down the hallway. Colonel Popov followed him out the room and watched him heading back down the hallway. He shouted for him to wait, but when the golem failed to stop, the colonel started after him.
“So do we have free run of the ship?” Red asked and Colonel Popov stopped and turned back around.
“No,” the colonel said glancing at the golem turning the corner then. “Please remain in your room. I’ll have lunch brought to you in a while,” he said as he closed the doors to their room. He locked them in then.
“Since we are locked in,” Count Vasili said, “would you mind taking these handcuffs off me?”
Tom looked at Red who was headed for the window. “Sure,” Red said. “Take them off him.”
Tom freed Count Vasili from his cuffs and then went over by the window also. He spotted the cab driver going down the steps of the platform just as Colonel Popov came across the gang plank. The colonel stood on the platform watching the cab driver in his yellow cap headed back toward his cab. Then the other golems, having finished delivering the Vamp’s from out the truck, left also.
Chapter 46
By noon, Mr. Slang already had had a busy day. At six that morning his alarm clock went off and he rose, showered and had breakfast downstairs in the lobby of the Monte Christo. Then he headed for the Shadows Hotel and let himself into Stone’s room and packed a bag for him. That way Stone would appear to be all set to head to the U.R.R.K. along with Pandora, Titan and the princess. Stone had been instructed to act like he was too slow getting onto the Tempest once its mooring lines were untied.
After slipping out of the Shadows, Mr. Slang stole a car and headed out to the spot in Draculia where he had prearranged
to meet Stone. He gave him his bags and went over their plan one last time.
After that he ditched the car and made his way back to Transylvania City. The first thing he did back in the city was ask a gentleman where he might find a delicious sandwich. Several places were recommended and Mr. Slang headed for the nearest of them. At a small deli just off Royal Street, Mr. Slang purchased two dozen sandwiches. He told the deli owner he had plenty of time to wait for them to be prepared. He also asked where the location of the nearest TCPD police station might be. He was told there was a small station nearby.
After his order was ready, Mr. Slang walked there and scouted the place. He found just what he needed, and then looking at his watch, saw he needed to kill just a little time still, so he ate a sandwich while sitting near the Vlad the Impaler Statue on Appian Way. As he sat there, he thought over if there was anything else he needed to do, but it seemed he had just the few remaining items that he was about to take care of. He had already arranged for Inspector Flynn to be one of the detectives escorting Count Vasili back to the U.R.R.K. He was not surprised when he heard back that Inspector Meriwether would be coming along also.
Having finished his sandwich, Mr. Slang went and bought a copy of the local paper. In fact he bought several copies and then he walked down the street to a tall building. Looking up he spotted a few gremlins on the highest ledges of the building. He went inside and took the elevator to the top floor and then unlocked the door that led out onto the roof.
He placed the papers down and lit them on fire, along with some trash he found. He quickly left then and took the elevator down to the street.
He was not the only one to look up and point at the fire burning atop the building. Gremlins were blamed. As Mr. Slang walked toward the TCPD station then, a fire engine roared past and then two police cars came roaring out of the station headed toward the fire. He slipped in the TCPD station then and found it empty. He found the keys to their paddy wagon and helped himself to a policeman’s uniform in a locker there.
The most risky part of his plan was to cross the Executioner’s Bridge before the paddy wagon was reported missing. He wasn’t quite sure what he would do if the bridge constable stopped and questioned him, but the constable only waved at his fellow TCPD officer, driving a TCPD paddy wagon across the bridge.
Just a few minutes before 1 o’clock, Mr. Slang approached the field where the two zeppelins were docked, driving a TCPD paddy wagon, wearing a TCPD uniform and bringing out there with him a box full of delicious deli sandwiches. The pair of constables stationed at the gate stopped him and asked what he was doing there, but they asked more out of curiosity than suspicion. He told them he’d been sent there to deliver sandwiches as he held out the box of sandwiches toward them. They each took one and thanked him without asking anything more. These officers, in this proper realm, he thought, were not a very suspicious lot and they accepted his sandwich as well as his word.
Mr. Slang drove out onto the field then and parked not far from the Tempest. He got out carrying the box of sandwiches and started toward the constables stationed at the bottom of the platform. As they were busy choosing their sandwiches, a dark mist suddenly arose from out of thin air right at the eastern edge of the field. The mist, like a heavy fog bank, began rolling toward them.
It was much heavier than a fog though, and it moved against the wind. As the cloud or mist as it was, moved toward the Tempest, it spread out and grew darker still. Finally the constables noticed it. They pointed at it and asked each other what it was. They backed away from it when its leading edge began creeping up over their shoes, but the sergeant over the detail there told them to ‘Stay at their posts’. The dark mist completely covered the constables as Mr. Slang retreated to his paddy wagon.
The constables could no longer be seen, but they could be heard shouting. Mr. Slang watched with much interest as the mist rolled, like the tide coming in, toward the Tempest. He was much amused when the first constable came flying out of the mist and landed on the ground. The constable was groggy, but not seriously hurt, having landed on the soft, wet grass of the field.
Another constable was tossed out and hit the side of the Tempest before sliding off and landing on the platform. There was much shouting now in both English and Russian as the mist covered the platform, but nothing inside the dark cloud could be seen from outside. It was impenetrable. Mr. Slang had been inside one on two separate occasions, and he knew those inside the mist were able to see a few feet around them, but nothing could be seen of them from outside.
Gunfire erupted from inside the mist just before a king’s guardsman was thrown off the platform, which was entirely covered now. The guardsman landed on top of the paddy wagon, but when the soldier went to get back in the fight, Mr. Slang knocked him out cold.
Constables stationed by the Dauntless ran toward the Tempest. Two of them entered the mist, but then were almost immediately tossed back out, one of them knocked out cold.
If Mr. Slang was asked how to describe the scene, he would have said it was like a cartoon where only a cloud of dust is visible, except for some arms sticking out, as two cartoon characters throw punches at one another.
Mr. Slang opened the doors to the back of the wagon when he saw one end of the Tempest begin rising as the rope holding it to a large post, was untied. Alarms inside the ship went off as the ship rose unevenly. Moments later the Tempest began floating upwards when its last mooring line was severed and then Stone emerged from out the mist. No one but Mr. Slang saw him run into the back of the wagon as most eyes were watching the Tempest floating away unexpectedly, like a kite whose string has snapped. As soon as Stone stepped inside the paddy wagon, Mr. Slang stepped on the gas pedal.
Stone lost his balance when the paddy wagon lurched forward. He rolled around the back of it as the truck bounced across the uneven field headed toward the Dauntless some four hundred yards away. Stone smacked up against one side of the back of the truck and slid to the other like a loose cannon on a ship, tossed at sea.
Mr. Slang headed straight for the Dauntless and drove right under its belly before slamming on the brakes causing Stone to slide into the wall separating the cab from the back of the paddy wagon. Mr. Slang hurried around to the back doors then.
“Come on,” he yelled at a dizzy Stone, who tumbled out of the truck onto the ground. A number of the king’s guard, led by Colonel Popov rushed toward them. They helped Stone up and threw a tarp over him as they rushed him through the TCPD constables who went to see what was going on. Colonel Popov and his men bowled through them and hurried up the platform into the open cargo doors of the Dauntless. Then Colonel Popov began shouting orders for his men to release the lines holding the Dauntless to the platform. An axe was produced and the ropes were cut and the Dauntless began lifting up into the air.
Chapter 47
Red, Tom and Count Vasili were looking out the window at the mist and the mayhem that followed when the Dauntless suddenly starting lifting into the air unevenly. The great airship rocked, the bow rose faster than the stern and all three men stumbled backwards and tripped over furniture as the ship titled backwards. When the ship’s bow swung around, they were thrown sideways. Alarms went off all over the ship, shouts were heard in Russian, and soldier’s boots hurried down the hallway outside their door.
They rose higher and higher and then the Dauntless’ engines came on with a loud whir and Tom could hear boxes sliding across the cargo hold, slamming into the wall as the ship as it lifted higher, floating unsteadily upwards like a balloon caught in the wind. The ship listed the other way then and he had to press his hand against the wall to keep from falling over again. Then the ship lurched forward causing Red to laugh with delight.
“What’s going on,” Tom shouted at Red, who seemed amused more than anything else.
“I think we are in pursuit of the Tempest,” he shouted over the noise of the alarms and shouting both within the ship and from the ground below. “I think Pandora just took co
ntrol of the thing.”
“We’re headed for the U.R.R.K?”
“I believe so,” Red said as he climbed up off the floor.
Finally the alarms were shut off, but orders were being barked out still up and down the hallway. The ship ceased rocking and seemed to be under the control of the pilot now and their ascent became more orderly and less concerning. The Dauntless angled upwards at about a five degrees tilt.
Tom went to the window and looked outside as Transylvania City slowly faded in the distance and then suddenly just below him was ground again as the ship came to the edge of the cliffs. The Dauntless continued to gain altitude until they passed into the clouds.
“How long a trip is this?” Tom turned around and asked Count Vasili, who was returning his chair to an upright position.
“In about four hours we’ll reach the edge of the pole. It takes an hour to cross over to the other side and then nearly five hours until we come to the Vladivostok station in the U.R.R.K. It will be close to midnight in Transylvania when we arrive there, but it will be early afternoon there.”
Not long after, lunch was brought to their room, but they remained locked in. It became increasingly dark as the ship neared the pole and twice Tom went and banged on the door, asking to be let out. He wanted to talk with Colonel Popov, but no one ever opened the door. There was a chess board in the room and Count Vasili and Red played a few games, Count Vasili beating Red handily each time. Tom thought it was strange of Red to be so friendly with Count Vasili.
After the third game Count Vasili stood and stretched out his arms and said he wouldn’t mind taking a nap before dinner. It was early still, but it was dark outside as they approached the pole.
“Can I take one of these bedrooms?” the count asked.