by Darrell Pitt
They felt the airship lurch forward.
“We’ve gone to full power,” Mr Doyle commented. “Hopefully, that will be enough to –.”
The metal monster swatted the airship again. Its metal hand slammed against the side of the enormous gondola and glass flew in all directions. Lucy and Scarlet screamed as their group were thrown to the deck. Cold air rushed into the interior of the chamber.
The Britannia lurched from side to side, its ascent suddenly halted. Mr Doyle and Jack helped the girls to their feet. Jack realised they were slowly descending.
“We’re not going up,” he said. “We’re going down.”
Mr Doyle joined him at the shattered window. “It must have burst the balloon. The Captain –.”
The enormous hand swiped at them again. This time they felt it slam into the side of the balloon and they were thrown to the deck. A klaxon alarm rang throughout the ship.
“Prepare for emergency landing,” a voice announced, sounding far more calm than it had any right to. “Emergency landing. Emergency landing.”
Crew men burst past them.
“Oh no,” Scarlet said.
They could see the ground rapidly coming up to meet them.
“Hold onto the railing!” Mr Doyle yelled.
They each grabbed a stabilizer railing running along the side of the corridor. They heard the distant sound of weaponry. The other airships had opened fire on the metal creature.
“We’re coming in too fast!” Mr Doyle cried. “We’re going to –.”
The Britannia slammed into the ground.
Chapter Nineteen
Blackness.
Jack awoke to realise he could see nothing. A piece of cloth moved over his face, smothering him. He pushed hard at it and the material cried out.
“Oh dear!”
Scarlet Bell. The girl lay directly on top of him. She scrambled off him in a hurry.
“My apologies, Jack,” Scarlet said.
Jack’s head hurt, but it was nothing that would not heal. He looked past her to a sight of complete chaos. The airship had crashed, slamming into the snow. The windows next to them were completely broken. Light filled the interior only by virtue of a gap between the top of the snow and the window.
“Apology accepted,” Jack replied. “Mr Doyle!”
Ignatius Doyle lay on the floor a few feet away with Lucy Harker in his arms. They gingerly climbed to their feet.
“I’m alright, Jack,” he said, rubbing his rump. “Landed heavily. That’s all.”
They brushed loose snow off their clothing and Mr Doyle immediately started pulling at the snow around one of the gaps in the window.
“We have to leave the airship immediately,” he said. “It could explode at any time.”
Jack stuck his head into one of the staterooms and found a chair.
“Good man,” Mr Doyle said. “I suggest the ladies go first.”
Lucy Harker climbed onto the chair and stuck her head through the gap. She scrambled through with Scarlet behind. Then Mr Doyle turned to Jack.
“You next, my boy.”
Jack shook his head. “No, Mr Doyle. You are next.”
Mr Doyle looked as if he were about to argue, but instead accepted the firm offer from his protégé.
“As you say, Jack.”
He climbed onto the chair and exited the airship. Jack took one last look around before he climbed onto the chair, through the window and onto the ice. Mr Doyle helped him to his feet. Jack looked around. The airship had been completely destroyed in the attack – it would never fly again. An enormous gash ran along the rigid balloon from one end to the other.
“I can’t smell any gas,” Jack commented.
“It’s impossible to smell hydrogen,” Mr Doyle said. “It is odourless.”
They started across the snow away from the ship. Other crew were rapidly exiting the vessel. Jack saw the captain among them. They started to hurry away from the ship.
The battle between the metal monster and the other airships was in full swing. The other airships that had been ascending into the valley had rapidly risen upon seeing the assault upon the Britannia. They were firing rockets and bullets at the monster from a safe distance. The creature was on fire in a dozen places.
A number of ships were diving over the creature, dropping bombs onto its head. Another ship hovered in an almost stationary position, firing continuous gunfire into the eyes.
The creature continued reaching upwards, but trying to attack the airships was pointless. It was like swatting flies. The creature turned its attention to the downed wreckage of the Britannia. A moment passed as if it were formulating a plan.
It started towards the airship.
“Run!” Mr Doyle cried.
His warning was unnecessary. Everyone scrambled away as quickly as possible as the giant moved towards the airship. Jack found it difficult running through the snow – they had left their snow shoes behind at the wreck – but fear drove him forward.
Something loomed above his head.
He looked up to see an enormous metal foot bearing down in their direction.
Oh no, he thought. The foot’s going to crush Mr Doyle!
He raced towards the detective. The older man looked up as the foot loomed towards him. Jack slammed into the side of the older man, pushing him out of harm’s way as the foot slammed down.
Woomph!
Snow and rock flew in all directions as the mighty foot missed them by inches.
But they were not the target of the monster’s wrath. The appendage lifted again as the creature took another few steps to reach the wreckage of the Britannia.
Ka–boom!
The wreckage burst into flame as the metal creature scooped it up in one of its mighty hands. The heat was so intense that Jack felt the warmth on his back and he scrambled to his feet.
“Quickly!” Mr Doyle yelled. “Over to the rocks!”
He pointed towards a rocky outcrop to their left. All four of them headed towards it. A stony projection provided some cover for them as they scrambled behind it.
Jack looked back towards the metal creature. Airmen from the Britannia were still scrambling away from it like ants fleeing their nest from a human intruder. The metal man held the shattered burning wreckage of the airship in its hand as it slowly turned to face the barrage of airships firing at it. The creature swayed slightly as it regarded the enemy.
It drew back the remains of the Britannia and flung the burning wreckage at one of the airships.
“That’s the Voltaire!” Mr Doyle cried.
An instant later the wreckage struck the airship. Momentarily it clung to the mighty French airship as if the two were engaged in a dance high above the Swiss hills.
Oh no, Jack thought.
No!
The Voltaire burst into flames.
“No!” Scarlet screamed.
The mighty French vessel nosedived towards the ground. It seemed to take forever. Jack felt his stomach turn over as men leapt from the burning wreckage in terror. The heat seemed to scorch his face as the wreckage melted the surrounding snow around them.
Jack swallowed hard. He felt sickened by the terrible carnage. Clenching his fists, he wished he could do something to stop the creature. Something moved in his peripheral vision.
“Look!” he cried.
They all turned as one to see a dark shape moving across the landscape. It was one of the insect machines they had seen in the underground cavern. Jack realised it was a kind of tank. He had seen pictures of tanks in books, but this looked far more advanced than anything he had previously seen. Its six legs slammed into the melting snow as it scuttled across the valley. The body was perfectly circular in design with a rotating turret at the peak.
Jack felt dismay as he pondered how they were all going to survive an assault by another piece of technology developed by the Phoenix Society. The tank came to a sudden halt and the turret swung around.
“It’s not aiming
at us,” Mr Doyle said.
“It’s aiming at the metal man!” Jack exclaimed.
The turret pointed at the feet of the metal creature. At the same time the controllers of the metal man seemed to realise the tank was not on their side. It took a single step towards the tank.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Artillery shots slammed into one of the legs of the monster. The creature shuddered. It tried to take a step forward, but its masters did not realise it had been crippled. As its left leg swung forward, its foot remained stuck in the snow, completely severed from the apparatus above it.
As it tried to place its nonexistent foot down, the monster overbalanced and fell face forward into the snow.
The landscape shuddered as if a bomb had exploded. Jack was momentarily thrown to the ground. Snow flew in all directions, blinding him as he struggled to his feet. An enormous plume of snow filled the air.
The creature had to be finished, Jack told himself. It had to –.
On mighty metal hands and knees, the enormous creature crept towards the tank. The turret swivelled again – and fired.
A shot rang out across the valley – and missed. The artillery round slammed into the far wall of the valley. Snow avalanched downwards into an almighty slide down the opposite face.
An enormous explosion hit the back of the creature. And another. The airships above the monster had not been driven back by the destruction of the Voltaire. Instead, they had moved in closer and now started a sustained bombing of the metal giant.
The turret on the tank swung around again. It seemed to wait until the last moment as the creature moved forward again, its metal hand reaching out, now only feet away from the tank. The tank began to fire.
The head of the metal man snapped back as a series of artillery rounds slammed into it. The hand hit the port side legs of the tank and it staggered sideways. The turret swung around almost immediately and fired more rounds into the head of the monster.
Time seemed to stop. The metal face looked at the tank with smoke and fire pouring out of it. Finally the head fell forward and the knees collapsed under the creature. The ground shook as it hit the snow.
The creature did not move.
Yes! Jack punched the air. The monster’s finished!
Jack and the others went wild, yelling and screaming with delight. At the same time, a hatchway on the turret swung upwards and two heads appeared – Mr Harker and Mr Bell. The men started across the snow towards them. Both the women ran at them, throwing themselves into their father’s arms.
Jack and Mr Doyle followed at a more leisurely pace.
Mr Doyle placed a hand on Jack’s shoulder. “I did not get a chance to thank you, my boy.”
Jack looked at him blankly. “What for?”
“For saving my life!” he thundered. “This is getting to be a habit, you know.”
He looked sternly at him, but his eyes twinkled with delight.
The group came together as one. Jack and Mr Doyle slapped the two other men on their backs, congratulating them for their bravery. The girls were ecstatic. They literally jumped for joy, but their celebration was short lived. They started across the slushy snow towards the wreckage of the Voltaire. At the same time, British soldiers poured across the valley in the same direction.
One of the other French airships came in to land some distance away from its wrecked comrade. A Swiss vessel came in behind it.
Within the sound of all the people in the snow and the still burning wreckage of the Voltaire, Jack suddenly noticed another sound reverberating around the valley. He stopped.
“Look!” he cried.
A wide horizontal slot had opened high up in one of the nearby hills as two enormous doors slid sideways. A roaring sound emanated from the interior. They stared upwards breathlessly as the sound grew louder.
An object flew out from the gap like a rocket.
“It’s a mechanised glider,” Mr Doyle said.
“We call it an aeroplane,” Jon Harker replied.
Jack steeled himself for another attack, but the mechanized device flew straight over the valley and out of sight.
“A fixed wing vessel,” Mr Doyle mused. “With an engine. Remarkable.”
“Just one of the many miracles developed by Phoenix,” Mr Bell commented. “Or one of the many atrocities, depending on how one looks at it.”
“Knowledge is a wonderful thing,” Mr Doyle replied. “As long as it is shared and respected. Secrets have too often brought down people, governments and nations.”
“I see that now,” Joseph Bell said.
Jack looked at the man. He looked unwell, as if now he now realised the terrible chain of events the society had brought about.
He regrets what he has done, Jack thought. I pray the Nazis can still be stopped.
“We must return to the bunker,” Mr Harker said. “I hope the aeroplane is the only piece of technology taken by the Nazis.”
Mr Doyle nodded at the remains of the metal giant. “Surely there is nothing more powerful than your metal monster.”
Dismay crept onto Jon Harker’s face. “Gentlemen, this base contains a weapon so powerful, it could spell the end of mankind. I pray it is still here – otherwise it has fallen into the hands of the Nazis.”
Chapter Twenty
Jack, Scarlet and Lucy were assigned medical duties while the men searched the base. Airmen injured by the attack of the metal man were either immediately airlifted to nearby Swiss hospitals or taken to the Phoenix compound to be treated. The girls were used as nurses by a small team of doctors from the airships while Jack was used as a general assistant. He didn’t mind. He found the work interesting and was glad to be of assistance to the injured men.
He had just finished getting a glass of water for one of the men when Mr Doyle appeared at his side.
“Jack,” he said. “We’re just having a meeting in the boardroom. Would you like to join us? There are some things you should hear.”
Mr Doyle looked worried. Jack nodded and followed him into the complex. The underground structure was massive. Jack wanted to ask Mr Doyle questions about it, but the older man looked too lost in thought to talk as they passed through a series of chambers deeper into the mountain. They finally arrived at a circular room with a round table in the centre. A number of people already sat around it. Jack recognised most of them – Scarlet and Lucy and their fathers.
A number of military men were seated in the room. In addition, there was also a thickset man with a serious expression on his face. Jack did not recognise him.
Finally Mr Bell stood and began by introducing Jack, Mr Doyle and the girls to the other men. Then he introduced the newcomers.
“This is Major Gerald Evans from the Navy and General Winston Churchill from the Army. I will begin by telling you all that we face an immense risk, greater even than that of the Great War.”
“I find that hard to believe,” Major Evans remarked.
“Believe it,” Jon Harker said. “The Phoenix society is literally centuries ahead of anything currently being used in the field.”
“What is the nature of this risk?” General Churchill asked.
“Experiments were made a number of years ago to investigate the power of the atom,” Mr Harker began.
“The power of Adam?” Major Evans frowned.
“The atom,” Mr Harker said, rather more firmly. “The basic building block of everything in existence. We have called it an atomic bomb. A mass of fissile material, in this case, uranium, is assembled into a supercritical mass which results in a nuclear chain reaction –.”
“Pardon me,” Major Evans interrupted. “Can I have it in English?”
“In English?” Mr Harker looked slightly annoyed. “Absolutely. A chain reaction is created that causes a massive explosion.”
“How big an explosion?” Winston Churchill asked.
“Two atomic bombs were built by the Phoenix society,” he replied. “Each explosion is the equivalent of app
roximately 18 kilotons of TNT.”
That’s a lot, Jack thought. A ton is a lot, so eighteen of them is more and a kiloton was a thousand of them so -.
It was massive. Absolutely massive.
Both military men stared at him in disbelief.
“You must be joking,” the General said.
“I wish I were,” Mr Harker said. “We are talking about a blast radius of some two miles. Anything within that zone will be annihilated. People outside that area staring at the explosion will be instantly blinded. After the detonation of the bomb, there is radiation fallout which will kill people within days, weeks or months of the initial explosion.”
“How many people are we talking about?” Mr Doyle asked quietly.
“If exploded over the centre of London, it would kill some one hundred thousand people in the short term and probably the same number again through radiation over the next five years.”
Absolute dead silence filled the room.
“I think it preposterous –.” Major Evans began.
Winston Churchill interrupted. “And you’re saying the Nazis now have control of this weapon?”
“Two of them,” Mr Harker confirmed sadly. “They can be detonated in a number of ways. A timed explosion. Or they can be released from a great height over an area.”
“Winston,” Major Evans turned to the General. “Surely you can’t believe in all this claptrap about a super weapon.”
“We can’t afford not to,” Winston Churchill said. “And after seeing the weaponry assembled within this compound and the metal giant lying on the ice outside, I think we need to prepare for the worst.”
“But we don’t know where these bombs are located,” the Major pointed out.
“As a matter of fact,” Joseph Bell said. “We do.”
Everyone looked at him.
“A tracking device is attached to the weapons,” he said. “We have been able to verify their location.”
“Then where are they, man?” General Churchill demanded gruffly.
“The German metrotower,” Mr Harker said.