Verity looked perturbed. ‘Take him apart? I don’t think I could allow that, Director. I am sorry but Calculus is not for sale.’
Stone and the doctor exchanged glances.
Stone led them to the other side of the roof overlooking the harbour front and the railway sidings. ‘When I came here twenty years ago I built my first factory with my own hands,’ he said. ‘Then came the roads, the refineries and the ports. Now my railways extend for five hundred miles into the wilderness and I have an Emperor-class engine, the Tolstoy, that can make the Obdoria run in ten hours straight!’ He shook his head grimly. ‘But it’s not enough. At our present rate of progress it will take a hundred years or more to put the world back the way it was before the rains. If we find Ironheart we can do it in a fraction of that time.’ He turned to Verity. ‘So you understand, Mrs Brown, how disappointed I was to discover you had been so careless with John Bentley’s journals.’ He held up the two slim volumes.
‘I think we all know perfectly well how they got here,’ said Verity, glaring at Sid.
‘And I think we all know perfectly well that they are worthless,’ said Stone, tossing them back to Verity. ‘So tell me why you’re here. And don’t give me any nonsense about expecting to get paid.’
‘We know there’s nothing in the journals,’ said Verity. ‘But we have something much better: a message from John Bentley that will take you straight to Ironheart.’
Stone’s eye twitched. ‘Really? So where are you keeping that information? Somewhere safe this time, I hope?’ He shifted his glance to India and her heart beat faster. The metal pendant felt cool against her skin. ‘No doubt you’re about to tell me that this is worthy of an increase to your fee,’ he continued. ‘So what do you want?’
‘A joint venture, Mr Director,’ said Verity with a smile. ‘First thing tomorrow I will give you the location of Ironheart in return for a small share of your profits. Shall we say thirty per cent?’
Stone made a hawking noise and spat on the ground.
‘You would do well to remember that I control every inch of Siberia from here to Vladivostok. No one is going to find Ironheart unless it’s in one of my rigs.’
Verity’s smile stayed fixed. ‘If you’re not interested, Director, I could always find another buyer. The Chinese perhaps.’
‘I’ll pay you five per cent for your information,’ he said, ‘and that is more than fair.’
‘How can you talk about what’s fair?’ said India suddenly. ‘Is it fair that those people down there are starving and being used for sport?’
Stone growled at the back of his throat.
‘Not now, India,’ murmured Verity.
‘My town is very well run, Miss Bentley,’ said Stone, with simmering menace. ‘Ask anyone here, they’ll tell you they are all very grateful to me.’
‘They’ll say anything because they’re all terrified of you,’ said India.
Stone’s knuckles tightened to bloodless knots. ‘What did you say?’ He advanced on India.
She tried to take a step backwards but found herself at the edge of the roof. ‘I’m only saying those people deserve to be treated fairly,’ she said, swallowing hard. ‘They don’t des—’
Her words were cut short as Stone grabbed the front of her shirt and hoisted her off her feet. She gasped as she found herself dangling over empty space and looked down to see the hard, icy cobbles, eighty feet below ‘Please . . .’ was all she could manage to cry out.
‘Mr Director, I’m sure we can do a deal,’ said Verity rapidly.
‘If you are so concerned for those people, Miss Bentley,’ growled Stone, shaking her like a rag, ‘why don’t you go and join them?’
India’s head swam.
‘All right then,’ said Verity quickly. ‘I agree to your offer of five per cent, Mr Director. Do we have an agreement?’
Stone looked for a moment as though he had not heard Verity. He continued to stare angrily at India as she thrashed helplessly at the end of his arm. Then slowly, he pulled her back and deposited her on the roof once more. India’s legs immediately buckled underneath her and she collapsed to her knees, panting for breath. Sid laughed openly at the terror on her face.
‘Very good, Mrs Brown,’ said Stone in a matter-of-fact way. ‘We have a deal. And I’ll not ask for proof of what you claim either. But if that information is not with me by the morning then I’ll have both of your skulls for bookends.’
Verity helped India to her feet. India felt sick and her legs would not stop shaking.
‘So!’ said Stone brightly as he rubbed his palms together. ‘How about we seal the deal with a glass of vodka in my office? Alone,’ he added, with a final poisonous look at India.
‘Of course, Mr Director,’ said Verity, with a forced smile. ‘I’ll be right with you as soon as I have spoken to my business associate.’
Verity put her arm around India and led her quickly down a flight of iron stairs at the side of the building. When they got to the bottom she hugged the trembling girl. ‘It’s OK, India,’ she said. ‘It’s over now. But what were you thinking? Stone is the most powerful man in Siberia. We were here to do a deal and you just picked a fight with him.’
India bit her lip. ‘I’m sorry,’ she said, wiping her nose on her sleeve. ‘It’s just the way he was treating those people made me so angry.’ She took a deep breath. ‘I’ll go back and apologize. Perhaps if I talked to him again . . .’
‘Oh no,’ said Verity holding up her hands. ‘You’re not going anywhere tonight. Here, take my bag, Calculus will take you back to the hotel. I’ll go and smooth things over with Stone. Let’s hope Calc can crack the code and find the location of Ironheart by the morning or we’re all in trouble. In the meantime you just concentrate on staying out of sight and looking after that pendant.’
Verity led India away to find Calculus before she joined the Director for a drink. As they left, India was surprised to see that Stone was still standing on the roof, deep in conversation with Sid and the doctor.
‘Why d’you give ’em five per cent, Pa?’ said Sid. ‘They got nothing. Them journals were useless and now they’ve made up some story about a message but they got nothing.’
Stone lashed out suddenly. The blow from the back of his big hand sent Sid sprawling.
‘You’re a fool, boy! You got eyes and ears but you don’t use ’em. Didn’t you hear the way she threatened to go to the Chinese? You don’t make that kind of threat unless you’re holding good cards. And didn’t you see the way she looked at the girl when she spoke? And how the girl kept touching her neck? If Bentley left a message then he most likely gave it to his daughter. Now get up!’
Sid picked himself up from the floor and dabbed his lip with a sullen expression.
‘I’m not paying five per cent to anyone,’ continued Stone, ‘but it suits me to play along with Mrs Brown for now. If we don’t find Ironheart in the next four weeks then the hard snows will set in and I can’t afford to wait until next season.’ He turned to Cirenkov ‘Doctor, I’ll need your help to take care of Mrs Brown and her war droid tonight. That machine will be no pushover.’
Then he rested a hand on Sid’s shoulder and spoke in a kinder tone. ‘And I want you to do what you do best, son. As soon as it gets dark, round up your boys and get over to the China woman’s place.’
A slow smile spread across Sid’s face.
‘Nothing fancy and no messing,’ said Stone sharply. ‘If anyone suspects what’s under those mountains before we get there then we’ll have a war on our hands. Just do it clean, find out what she’s hiding and then drop the body in the vats. No one will ever question the disappearance of another runaway in Angel Town.’
Sid didn’t need telling twice. He was away down the steps with his long coat flying behind him and the nastiest of smiles spreading across his face. Tonight, he thought to himself, he would teach that vicious little alley cat a lesson, and whatever his pa might say, it wasn’t going to be quick or clean.
/> CHAPTER 9
ESCAPE ON THE TOLSTOY
She climbed to the top of the hill, cold air stinging her cheeks. A white reindeer stood at the edge of the trees, young and slender, unafraid. She stroked its neck and noticed it had one eye of ice blue and the other of the darkest brown.
‘Do you know where my father is?’ she whispered.
The reindeer spoke clearly. Its voice sounded inside her head.
‘He rests among the heads of warriors, beyond the fast-flowing river. He is safe, for now, but he is not alone. Something waits with him and soon it will awaken.’
‘How am I meant to find him?’ she said.
‘You must look for me first,’ said the reindeer. ‘Follow a red star to the East where it leads you over the mountains and I will protect you when you make the crossing. You must hurry, India Bentley. Find the heart of iron before the snows come or the winter will be ceaseless and without light. But now the wolves are coming and you must flee, quickly!’
‘But how will I find you again?’ she asked. There was no reply. The reindeer was gone and only the endless, white silence of the snow remained.
She woke with a start in Mrs Chang’s guest room. It was still dark outside, several hours before dawn, and the fire in the grate had faded to an ember. The half-remembered dream had left her feeling unsettled and anxious. She wondered if Verity and Calculus were back yet.
Calculus had said little on the journey back to the hotel and he seemed anxious to return to the Trans-Siberian Mining Company as soon as possible and check on his mistress. India’s shakiness after her encounter with Lucifer Stone had given way to a headache and as soon as they arrived at Mrs Chang’s she had gone straight to bed.
Unable to get back to sleep, she got up and pulled on some clothes before going to the window. The street was empty and shuttered and the boardwalks glittered with a coating of ice. She looked up and was startled to see a thin, white streak of light passing noiselessly across the sky to the East; a shooting star, like the one she had seen in London. A second streak followed and then a third. And then a whole swarm of fiery stars arced gracefully across the night sky towards the mountains. India realized she was holding her breath. Verity had said when someone died their star falls to Earth, so what did this mean? She clutched at her pendant and hoped that Bella was safe.
As the last shooting star faded away, a movement across the street caught her eye. She ducked behind the curtain as a lone figure moved briefly out of the deep shadow. She recognized the black hair and chalk-white face immediately. Sid! Downstairs the wood and glass front doors smashed inwards and the shards scattered across the hallway. She rushed from her room and peered over the banisters. Bearded men in long-johns were gathering on the landing below in confused groups and Mrs Chang could be heard shouting in the dining room.
‘What do you want? I told you no come back after last time. Get out of my house!’
There was the sound of more breaking glass and then Sid’s voice. ‘Shut up, China woman. Tell us where the girl is and we might not burn this place to the ground.’
‘What girl? There’s no girl here. Are you crazy? You get out right now or I set Mr Chang on you.’
There was a sound of scuffling and then a heavy iron clang rang out, followed by a howl.
‘Ow! Boss, she hid me. My node, id’s bleeding.’
‘Never mind your precious nose, Cripps. You and Silas, get upstairs and find the girl. Make sure you get all her stuff too.’
Heavy footsteps sounded on the stairs. India darted back to her room and slipped a chair under the door handle. She guessed she had a minute, maybe two at most, before they found her room.
The side window of her room looked down on to an alley, a bone-breaking thirty feet down and too far to jump. But when she leaned out, there was a narrow ledge running just under the sill, and a drainpipe that offered a possible route to the ground.
India pulled on her boots with shaky fingers, then picked up Verity’s bag and stuffed her own things into it. Trying not to look down, she opened the window and lowered herself over the sill to the ledge, standing motionless on the icy beam. The sharp night air made her breath come in quick gasps. Out here, the ledge felt much narrower.
She began a slow, cautious shuffle along the beam, towards the iron drainpipe. The frozen metal of the pipe stuck painfully to her skin until she pulled the sleeves of her shirt over her hands like mittens. Then she started to climb down carefully.
Just when it seemed she might escape, her foot slipped on the icy metal and she pitched sideways into the alley. Her grip on the pipe was lost in a heartbeat and her arms and legs flailed wildly as the ground rushed up to meet her. The impact knocked the wind from her chest and something hit her hard in the mouth. She groaned and lay still until she felt strong enough to open her eyes.
A foul-smelling pile of rubbish had broken her fall, probably saving her life. She sat up slowly; all of her limbs seemed to be working normally. Her knee had been twisted in the fall and her lip was bloodied, but she was otherwise OK. She climbed shakily to her feet.
‘You! Stop there!’ Two more men turned into the alley and were running towards her. She took off in the other direction, hobbling on her injured knee.
The alleyways behind the guest house were dark and stinking and she soon became hopelessly lost in the twisting maze as she tried to shake off her pursuers. Her breath came in ragged gasps and tore at her throat. Just as she felt her legs were about to give way she rounded a corner and ran straight into a massive figure blocking her path. She jumped back in alarm and looked up at the shadowy outline.
‘Calc!’ she cried. She hugged his metal body, her arms not quite meeting around his middle. ‘I’m so glad it’s you. Where’s Verity?’
‘I was hoping she was with you,’ he said. ‘There was no sign of her back at Stone’s place. What are you doing out here?’
She spilled out the story of her escape from the guest house while trying to keep her voice from shaking. ‘Good grief!’ she cried. ‘You’re shot!’
He put a hand to the three small holes in his shoulder armour. ‘When I went back to find Verity, Stone’s men were waiting for me. My self-healing mechanisms will take care of the wound but I was lucky to get away. Sid’s thugs are all over the town and I fear for Mrs Brown’s safety if she is still at Trans-Siberian.’
‘Then we have to go and rescue her,’ said India. ‘What are we waiting for?’
‘India, these people are not like the men in your village,’ he said. ‘They are trained killers and there are too many of them for us to deal with. If they have captured Mrs Brown there is nothing we can do right now.’
‘But you’re her bodyguard! Aren’t you even going to try to rescue her?’
‘There are times, India,’ he said calmly, ‘when a tactical retreat is the best strategy. If we went back to Trans-Siberian then we would almost certainly be captured or killed ourselves. Mrs Brown gave me orders to ensure your safety. When that is done I will consider how best to help her.’ He looked up and down the alleyway and grasped her hand. ‘Come on, we should head for the harbour. I’ll try to find a cargo ship that will get you home.’
She allowed herself to be pulled along through the narrow alleys as they headed for the waterfront, reeling from the events of the last hour.
They emerged into a floodlit yard laced with rail tracks and India gave a small yelp of surprise before Calculus yanked her quickly back into the shadows. Their route across the tracks was blocked by a monstrous black train reeking of hot oil and wood smoke. It sat in the siding like a slumbering beast, exhaling great gasps of steam and splashing hot, hissing fluids on to the frozen ground. India was stunned by its immensity.
‘It must be the engine Stone was bragging about,’ she said. ‘The Tolstoy.’
‘We have to get past it,’ said Calculus. ‘It’s the only way to the harbour.’
They picked their way along the dark tracks, stepping over railway sleepers and sta
ying out of the yellow pools of light from the carriage windows as they made their way towards the engine. The Tolstoy was a beast. Each of its eight wheels stood taller than Calculus and the bearings and connector rods were as thick as a man. They passed a muscular, soot-covered man stoking the roaring firebox and walked carefully around the front of the train.
Calculus peered along the platform. ‘Just a few passengers,’ he said. ‘I think there’s an alleyway over there that leads down to the harbour.’
But India wasn’t listening; she was looking at the front of the engine which was adorned with a large red star.
‘Calc, I need to get on this train.’
‘This train is going east, India, it won’t help us.’ He continued to scan the platform. ‘Now, get ready to run as soon as the guard turns his back.’
‘I know where it’s going, Calc. It might sound weird, but I’ve dreamed about this. Actually, since my dad went missing I’ve had a lot of strange dreams. The one I had tonight told me to follow a red star over the mountains. It means I should get on this train, Calc, don’t you see?’
He looked at the red star and then at India. ‘No, I don’t see. Why would you want to do something that will only take you further into danger?’
‘You’re not listening to me!’ She took a deep breath. ‘Look, you told me a shaman can control another person’s dreams, so isn’t it possible that’s what is happening to me? I think someone is trying to send me a message. The dream told me my dad was still alive but there was something with him, something that shouldn’t be woken. It said if I didn’t get there soon something bad would happen. I have to go east, Calc, I just have to.’
Calculus gazed at her steadily. It was impossible to tell if he was buying into any of her story. ‘It is possible,’ he said eventually, ‘that you are experiencing some sort of psychic phenomena. But have you ever considered that whoever is sending you these dreams may not be telling you the truth?’
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