The Londum Omnibus Volume Two (The Londum Series Book 12)

by Tony Rattigan

  ‘That’s right,’ confirmed Admiral Collins. ‘It’s the fastest airship we have. The next generation models were built for heavy lift capability so are big, unwieldy brutes. This however was designed to be a greyhound,’ he said proudly. ‘Wait a minute, how do you know the Pegasus?’

  ‘I’ve actually flown in it. Is Captain Somersby still in command?’

  ‘Yes, he’s the most experienced airship captain that we have. How the devil did you come to fly in her?’

  ‘It’s a long story. If we survive this adventure, maybe I’ll tell you all about it.’

  ‘Now I see what the king meant when he said it might be interesting to have a drink with you sometime and listen to your stories,’ conceded the admiral.

  From the open door of the gondola, someone threw down a rope ladder and beckoned them forward.

  The prime minister said to Cobb as a farewell, ‘Don’t forget, the future of Albion, possibly the world, is resting on your shoulders.’

  Cobb sighed and then replied, ‘Yeah, I get that a lot.’ He turned and followed the other two over to the airship.

  Captain Richard Somersby stood in the open doorway and saluted them. ‘Admiral Collins, welcome to the Pegasus.’ He looked at the other two and then shook his head, as if to clear it. ‘Is that you, Mr. Cobb? How the Devil are you?’

  ‘Fine thank you, Captain. And mighty glad that you’ll be piloting us around. We couldn’t be in safer hands. This is my friend Mr. Jim Darby, he’ll be coming with us.’

  ‘Another lost dog is it?’ joked Somersby, referring to the jokes they had made about private detectives hunting lost dogs, the last time they had flown together.

  ‘Yep, another big one.’

  ‘Well, we’d better not waste any time in case it gets away. Come aboard.’

  Admiral Collins, followed by the other two, climbed up the rope ladder and into the cabin at the front of the gondola. The wooden walls of the cabin came to waist height, everything above that was glass up to the roof, affording good vision forwards and sideways. Although it was a cabin, technically it was the “bridge” of the airship as that was where its operation was controlled from.

  Once they were safely aboard, Capt. Somersby stood next to the only other occupant of the bridge, the helmsman who stood at the wheel in the centre of the floor.

  Somersby turned to the admiral and told him, ‘Awaiting your orders, Admiral.’

  ‘Very well, take us up and fly us to Chatham Docks, if you please.’

  Somersby went to the open doorway, recalled his men to the airship and then went to stand at the front of the bridge. One after the other, the men climbed up the rope ladder into the cabin, then pulled the ladder up after them. They took up positions either side of the cabin.

  ‘Clear port and starboard?’ Somersby asked.

  ‘Port clear!’

  ‘Starboard clear!’ responded the two sailors.

  ‘Tell them to loose the moorings,’ Somersby ordered. The port sailor shouted to the soldiers to let go the ropes and then he slid the cabin door shut.

  ‘Helm, take her up to five hundred feet and then set course ninety-five degrees, fifteen knots.’

  ‘Aye aye, sir,’ responded the helmsman. He rang through to the engine room and the speed of the propellers increased. As the airship moved forward the helmsman pulled back on a lever and the airship rose majestically over the trees in the palace garden and soared up into the air, over Londum.

  Captain Somersby turned away from the window and told the admiral, ‘It’s only thirty-five miles, Admiral, so we should have you there in under an hour.’

  The admiral went to the window and spoke softly to Captain Somersby, quietly, so none of the others on the bridge could hear them above the noise of the steam engine. Occasionally Somersby glanced in the direction of Jim and Cobb, so they knew they were talking about them. Eventually he turned to them and said, ‘Mr. Cobb, might I call on you to show your friend the rest of the Pegasus? Ask cookie to get you both a cup of coffee and then you might as well relax in the sleeping area until we get to Chatham.’

  ‘Certainly Captain,’ replied Cobb, loud enough to be heard over the engine noise, then he dropped his voice and said to Jim, ‘Mushrooms?’

  ‘Mushrooms,’ Jim confirmed.

  ‘I wonder what they don’t want us to know?’

  ‘Maybe we’ll find out at Chatham, let’s go get that coffee.’

  Nodding to the admiral they left the bridge.

  Cobb led the way through the door at the back of the bridge. They were in a little galley with barely enough room for a man holding a plate to turn round. This opened into the engine room.

  There was a clean, sparkling steam engine there, being tended by two brawny sailors. ‘This is where the Chief Engineer and his assistant; who are also the cooks, look after the engine and prepare the meals. They cook on the firebox of the engine. It tastes good too, they do a mean corned-beef hash.’ He nodded to the two engineers, ‘Any chance of a couple of cups of coffee?’

  The cooks, who obviously appreciated the comment about their cooking, rustled up a couple of cups without delay.

  Cobb led the way through the door at the rear of the engine room into a short corridor. There was a tiny latrine on one side, a locker on the other and yet another door. This led into the rear of the gondola, which was another room with glass windows, but this one had three bunks, two of which were occupied. Two sailors lay there, talking. They sat up when Cobb walked in and he introduced himself and Jim. ‘Hello, I’m Mr. Cobb and this is Mr. Darby, we’re your passengers to Chatham. Captain Somersby asked us to come and wait back here while he talks to the admiral. Military secrets, I suppose.’

  They nodded in understanding. The Gods forbid that a lower rank might overhear a conversation between officers about what was actually going on. Military discipline would be shattered.

  ‘The bunks can be folded away and this cabin used as an observation platform,’ Cobb told Jim.

  Jim looked around the small cabin. Around the walls were what looked like sawn-off drainpipes with tail fins attached. They were stood on end, pointed nose down and held in place by large clamps. Recognising them he said to Cobb, ‘Those are bombs, aren’t they?’

  ‘Yes. Death from above. Great world we live in, eh?’

  Jim, being ex-military, was more pragmatic. ‘If only it could be the perfect world we would like it to be, however, we have people like the Elves out there who wish to do us harm. That’s why we have to have things like this, to defend ourselves.’

  This was an old argument between the two of them and Cobb let it go without response. Sitting down on one of the bunks, he sipped his coffee and settled himself down for the flight to Chatham.

  ***

  Good as his word, Captain Somersby arrived at Chatham Dockyards under an hour later. The noise of the engine reduced as it was throttled back and the two sailors left to assist in the landing. Cobb and Jim stood up to watch the approach.

  At the edge of the existing dockyards large areas had been cleared and massive hangars had been built. They could see the airship fleet in its final preparations to go to war. There were around fifteen silver-coloured airships moored to masts on the airfield, and others being taken into or out of the great hangars. They were huge beasts, bigger than anything Jim had previously seen and at around seven hundred feet in length probably about five times the size of the Pegasus.

  Jim and Cobb watched, fascinated. ‘That’s an impressive sight,’ said Jim. ‘I had no idea they’d made so much progress.’

  ‘What do you know about airships?’ asked Cobb.

  ‘Can’t say, government secrets, but it’s why I got the Royal pardon.’

  Cobb looked at him, amazed and was just about to question him further when one on the sailors came through and told them, ‘The captain would like the two of you to join him on the bridge, if you please,’ which stopped the conversation and they followed him out.

  ***

 
The admiral disembarked from the airship, followed by Cobb, Jim and Captain Somersby. As it was the First Sea Lord arriving, the commanding officer of Chatham Docks and his senior staff were there to greet him. After all the saluting, handshaking and paying of respects, the admiral turned to Captain Somersby and said, ‘Captain, I have booked accommodation in the Officers Mess for Mr. Cobb and Mr. Darby for tonight. Would you be good enough to check that all is ready? Perhaps you would care to join us for dinner tonight?’

  Somersby looked a bit anxious at the thought of dining with the First Sea Lord but Cobb nodded at him, being as he and Jim were outsiders it would be handy to have a friendly face there. Somersby accepted, after all who was going to say ‘no’ to the big boss?

  ‘Excellent,’ said the admiral. ‘In the meantime, please make sure you airship is fully fuelled and munitioned, ready to go first thing after breakfast. See you at 08:00.’

  Somersby saluted and left to carry out his orders. The admiral turned to the rest of the officers and told them, ‘Now gentlemen, if you’ll excuse me I’ll take our guests over to meet our specialists, Naval Party 7. I’ll meet you in your office, later,’ he told the Chatham CO. ‘Is my transport here?’

  The CO showed him the carriage and driver.

  ‘Follow me, gentlemen,’ he said to Jim and Cobb. They boarded the carriage and it set off. It took the three of them over to the far side of the airfield to a building surrounded by wire fencing. Two armed guards were stationed at the entrance. Jim noticed that the guards wore marine uniforms instead of the normal navy outfits. Cobb read the sign as they approached, “Naval Party 7”.

  The guards, seeing the First Sea Lord of the Navy arrive at their front door were prepared enough to pay him the proper respects. Instead of just saluting him by reaching their arm across their chest to touch their rifles, as he was Flag Rank he was treated to the full “Present Arms” manoeuvre, which involved coming to attention, holding the rifle out vertically in front of them and then stamping the right foot down behind their left. (It was like a curtsy in boots.)

  Obviously been forewarned, thought Jim. Must have been notified that the airship had landed.

  Admiral Collins saluted back and then one of the guards pulled on a bell-cord that ran back into the building. Immediately somebody came out of the building and approached the gate. He wore black trousers, boots and a black roll-neck jumper with no signs of rank displayed. On his head he wore a beret with just a standard naval officer’s badge. As he reached the gate he stood to attention, saluted and welcomed the admiral. ‘Lieutenant North, sir, Naval Party 7. Welcome to Chatham, Admiral.’ Admiral Collins returned the salute and then Lt. North unlocked the gate and ushered the three of them inside. After the gate had been relocked, Lt. North led them into the building.

  The admiral waited until they were inside before asking him, ‘Has everyone except your team been stood down?’

  ‘Yes, sir. Everybody, even the CO of Naval Party 7 as your instructions were to confine it to just the men going on the mission.’

  ‘So there are just us in the building?’

  ‘Yes, sir. The rest of my men are waiting in the briefing room.’

  ‘Then take us there.’

  The lieutenant showed them the way to the briefing room and as they entered the three men sitting around a table jumped up and stood to attention. Admiral Collins looked around the room, there was a large table dominating the centre of the room, beyond that a podium and a chalk board which currently was covered with maps of the Lake District.

  ‘Stand easy, gentlemen.’ The marines relaxed but remained standing, legs apart, hands clasped behind their backs. ‘Right, let’s start with the introductions,’ said the admiral. ‘This is Mr. Rufus Cobb and Mr. Jim Darby who will be accompanying you on the mission. Lieutenant?’

  ‘I’m Lieutenant North ... these are my men, Sergeant Forbes, Sergeant Barnes and Sergeant Willoughby.’

  ‘Now, if you’ll all be seated gentlemen, I’ll begin the briefing,’ said the admiral. There were several pots of coffee and a tray of biscuits on the table so he invited them to help themselves and once everyone was settled, he took his place behind the podium and began.

  ‘This mission has been personally approved by the king and is known only to a handful of people, both in this room and the War Cabinet. It has the highest classification. Not even your transport know anything more than where they will be taking you, not why or where you’ll go after you disembark, so do not discuss it with anyone outside this room. I cannot emphasise this enough, the successful conclusion of this mission is vital to our survival in this war.

  ‘This mission is called “Operation Looking Glass”. For those of you who know your Lewis Carroll, you will be literally going “Through the Looking Glass”. Now then, there are still a few timing details yet to be finalised which you will be advised of later. For the moment though, I can give you the mission overview, explain all the elements and fill you in on your task.’

  So, as the six of them sat there and drank their coffee, the admiral took them through the details of the mission. First of all explaining that the purpose of their mission was to recover the Dark Matter, Cobb’s and Jim’s presence and finally their method of entrance to (and hopefully exit from) the Elven dimension.

  He showed them drawings taken from the descriptions of the army staff that had gone through the portal and seen the building that housed the portal generator. Naturally they had not seen inside but they had described the exterior of the building in detail, none of which had been spared from the diagrams.

  ‘You’ll have to decide whether you will break into it or if a full-frontal assault might be better,’ he told them.

  ‘I’ve broken into worse places before,’ said Jim. They all turned and looked at him. ‘Err ... allegedly,’ he qualified the statement.

  Finally, the admiral put down the pointer that he had been using to indicate locations on the maps and asked, ‘Any questions?’

  The four men of Naval Party 7 looked at Cobb and Jim, at each other, and then back to Cobb and Jim.

  ‘Can you really do that?’ asked Lt. North.

  ‘Yes, I can,’ replied Cobb.

  ‘I meant any questions about the mission,’ stated the admiral.

  ‘No sir,’ replied Lt. North. ‘Not for the moment, we need to go over the details and then we might have a few, perhaps.’

  ‘Good. In that case I will leave you to get acquainted with our guests and to kit them out for the operation. I’ll go and show my face at the CO’s office and be back here around four o’clock. We can go over any queries you may have, then. I repeat, nobody outside this room is to be told what we are about.’

  Lt. North called his men to attention and at Jim’s urging, he and Cobb stood up too, so as not to be disrespectful. Lt. North showed the admiral out of the compound and returned to the briefing room.

  When he entered the room the marines were drinking their coffee looking at the other two.

  ‘So Mr. Cobb, I understand you were a policeman?’ he asked Cobb.

  ‘That’s right I was, now I’m a private detective. Same thing really except I get to choose my own hours.’

  ‘Well that’ll be fine if we get chance to arrest a few Elves. You ever killed anyone?’

  ‘No. I’ve shot a few people that were shooting at me but I made a point of not killing them.’

  ‘I see. And you, Mr. Darby, what military experience have you had?’

  ‘I did several years in the Kings Own Engineers in Bharat.’

  ‘Build any nice bridges, did we?’ asked Sgt. Barnes, sarcastically.

  ‘Yes I did, as a matter of fact. And blew a few up as well. Who do you think does all the demolition in the army? It’s the engineers,’ which caused a few odd glances around the table.

  Cob leaned forward and put both his elbows on the table. Jim could tell from his posture that he was getting annoyed but Jim didn’t mind the ribbing as he knew they were just sizing the two of the
m up.

  ‘But when push comes to shove, do you think you can hold your end up?’ Lt. North asked them.

  Cobb and Jim looked at each other and nodded. ‘Yeah, we can hold our end up. We’ve done it before,’ said Jim, matter-of-factly.

  Sgt. Willoughby said, ‘So, you two think you’re a couple of heroes, eh?’

  Cobb replied, ‘Might I point out Sgt., that you were ordered to be here, we’re volunteers.’

  North stood up. ‘Very well then, come with me, we’ll get you kitted out.’

  He led the way out of the briefing room, along the corridor and down some steps into the basement. Although mostly underground, there were rectangular windows along the walls giving plenty of light during the daytime. The far end of the room was taken up with a firing range, consisting of a bank of sand with targets standing upright in it. Before it there were tables covered with an assortment of hand guns and rifles.

  The end of the room where they had just entered was taken up with tables containing clothing and haversacks. Lt. North stopped in front of these and turned around. ‘Well gentlemen, we need to fit you out with new clothing, similar to what we’re wearing.’

  Jim almost didn’t catch it but as he was talking to him he saw Lt. North’s eyes look over Jim’s shoulder. It was just a quick glance but it was enough to set Jim’s internal alarm off. Purely on instinct, not even sure why he was doing it, Jim took a step backwards. As he did so, one of the marines swung his arm down precisely where Jim’s head had been and the cosh he was holding whistled past Jim’s nose. Not meeting the resistance he was expecting, the marine overbalanced and staggered forward, bending at the waist. Jim reached under him, grabbed his jumper and spun him over to crash land on his back, where Jim stamped lightly on his stomach, enough to wind him. Turning quickly around Jim saw another marine coming up behind him, so he gave him a straight leg kick to the chest which knocked him flat on his back.

  He spun back and advanced on Lt. North. He was pleased to see that as soon as Jim had been attacked, Cobb had dealt with the other marine. He’d been standing behind him and grabbing him by the hair, had bent him backwards and then when he was off balance, kicked him behind the knees and dropped him to the floor. Cobb was now kneeling with his shin across his neck.