Krrrikkkk!
Jack’s heart bulged with fear. Something was in the room with him. Reaching over, he grabbed at the table lamp and ignited it.
His mouth fell open in astonishment. A five-foot high mechanical octopus stood in the room, arms weaving about, as if searching. At the end of each arm was a three-pronged claw. Its head was a cylinder with a mechanical eye. No doubt it was very advanced—and equally deadly.
Krrikkk!
Jack peered up to see one of the arms dangling only a few inches over his head. One false move and it would pounce.
I need to create a diversion. But how can I do that without moving?
Jack’s eyes spied a book on the bedside table. It was one of Mr Doyle’s—The Great Shadow—by some British writer, and the pages were fanned open.
Taking a deep breath, Jack carefully blew at the pages. At first nothing happened. Then a few turned.
The mechanical arm whirred and moved towards the book. Jack blew again and the pages flapped more furiously. The claw drew back and slammed into the book, punching a hole right through, just as Jack rolled off the other side of the futon.
Scampering under the mattress, he screamed for help as he levered it upright. The metal monster beat against it, but could not break through.
Jack continued to yell. He heard the bedroom door open.
‘Good grief!’ Mr Doyle cried.
Jack pushed the futon towards the creature, trying to block its view, but one of its arms slammed the door shut. Only one exit remained—the window.
Diving across the room, Jack proceeded to climb onto the window ledge that ran the length of the building. Heights did not scare him—he had been an acrobat for years—but he preferred the safety of a net.
Edging along as quickly as possible, he heard a shot ring out in his bedroom. And another. There was no mistaking the boom of Mr Doyle’s gun. The metal octopus crashed through the window, and landed on the ledge. It paused momentarily, its claws waving about in the air, before turning towards Jack and starting after him.
Bazookas!
Reaching the next window, Jack peered into a hotel hallway. Smashing a pane with his elbow, he shoved the window up and started through until a claw grabbed his leg. He tried to struggle free, but it held him tight.
Blam! Blam! Blam!
Mr Doyle advanced, gun in hand, down the hallway. Scarlet was behind him, gripping a fire axe. The bullets slammed into the machine’s body, sending steam escaping.
Jack tried to wrestle free. ‘It won’t let go,’ he gasped.
Mr Doyle fired again and this time something exploded in the machine’s torso. Hot metal flew everywhere, and it became a dead weight as it slid backwards through the window, dragging Jack after it.
Throwing himself at Jack, Mr Doyle pinned him to the ground, but now both of them were being pulled out. Scarlet brought the fire axe down onto the final tentacle gripping Jack’s leg. Oil sprayed from the wound.
‘Hurry!’ Jack yelled.
She brought the axe down a second time, and a third.
Something snapped in the leg and the octopus fell back through the window. A moment later they heard it crash into the street.
Mr Doyle helped Jack up. ‘I’m sorry that happened, my boy,’ he said. ‘That monster could have killed you.’
‘Don’t blame yourself,’ Jack said, rubbing his leg. ‘It’s not your fault.’
‘It partly is,’ Mr Doyle said, sheepishly. ‘That creature was probably supposed to kill me.’
CHAPTER TEN
The dragonfly zoomed across the sky.
Jack, Scarlet and Mr Doyle huddled together in the cold cabin. They had started early after a restless night’s sleep. The police had been called, the machine retrieved and their group moved to another room. Einstein had arrived during the midst of the drama, apologising for the attack.
‘The Metalists must be trying to disrupt the conference,’ he said to Mr Doyle. ‘Killing the guest of honour would severely destroy the reputation of the Darwinist League.’
‘I suggest security be bolstered,’ Mr Doyle said.
‘There are already as many security guards as there are delegates,’ Einstein said. ‘But I’ll ask the police to send more officers.’
After Einstein had left, Mr Doyle turned to Jack. ‘It seems we have landed in the middle of a sticky situation. Someone wants to destroy the Darwinist League, but we have our own enemies trying to stop us from pursuing the Kusanagi sword.’
Hiro spoke over his shoulder. ‘You will not give up,’ he said. ‘Will you?’
‘I’m not sure the sword can be found,’ Mr Doyle said. ‘It may have been destroyed centuries ago. Regardless, I still need to locate my scoundrel step-brother.’
‘You call him a scoundrel,’ Hiro said. ‘But I found him to be very smart.’
‘He is smart,’ Mr Doyle said. ‘He’s also one of the most accomplished liars I’ve ever known.’
Scarlet turned to Jack. ‘I’ve been thinking that I owe you an apology,’ she said.
‘For what?’
‘I doubted that ninjas existed. I even suggested you might have hallucinated that episode with the red ninja. I’m sorry.’
‘That’s all right.’
Hiro glanced back at them. ‘Scarlet told me you met a ninja,’ he said. ‘A red ninja.’
Jack told him how the woman on the rooftop had saved his life. ‘What do you know about her?’ he asked.
‘The red ninja is legendary,’ he explained. ‘She helps the poor and fights crime.’
Jack smiled smugly. ‘So she is like Ninja Star,’ Jack said. ‘In Ninety-Nine Ninjas, he travels to Britain to save the King of England from being assassinated.’
‘Goodness,’ Scarlet said. ‘He sounds like a Japanese Brinkie Buckeridge.’
‘Oh, he’s much more talented than Biscuit Budgerigar,’ Jack said. ‘He only has one arm.’
‘One arm? How does he fight evildoers?’
‘He’s very good with his feet.’
After travelling west for hours, they turned south over the sea. Hiro followed the coast until they reached some lakes. The first contained two large islands with a road joining them to the mainland.
Hiro pointed to the closest.
‘The small island is Eshima,’ he said. ‘The larger is Daikonshima.’
He slowed the dragonfly and circled Daikonshima. There were a few huts on it, but it otherwise appeared unoccupied.
‘It’s very flat,’ Jack said.
‘I’m not sure where we’re going to find a cave,’ Scarlet said.
Mr Doyle had been checking the parchment. ‘That’s the section of coast,’ he said, pointing. ‘At the southern end.’
Landing the dragonfly, Hiro tied it to a nearby tree and they trekked down to the edge of the bay.
‘I don’t see a cave anywhere,’ Jack said.
The further they traipsed, the more hopeless Jack felt. He had imagined they would stumble upon a hill with a cave. I
nstead, it was only open grassland.
‘Are we sure that’s a cave?’ he asked, after they stopped to look at the parchment again. ‘It looks more like a hole than a cave.’
‘You may be right,’ Mr Doyle said. Taking out his goggles, he studied the grassy field. ‘What’s that over there?’
They headed over to a place where it looked like the grass had been disturbed. Jack peered at one of the rocks. Unlike the others, which were grey, this was rusty red. He hit the rock with his hand and it gave a hollow ring.
‘Jack,’ Scarlet said. ‘I think you’ve found it.’
‘I think Edgar did first,’ Jack said.
Mr Doyle pointed at the ground. ‘There are some faint footprints in the dirt,’ he said. ‘I’ll wager they’re his.’
They levered up the rock to reveal a set of winding stairs. Mr Doyle lit a candle and they descended.
Finally, they reached a narrow tunnel. The candlelight could not penetrate it, so Mr Doyle pulled an ancient torch from a wall and lit it.
At the other end, they reached a perfectly arched cave with ancient Japanese characters carved into the stone walls. The floor was made from long, narrow paving stones. The whole place smelt of mould and stale water.
Mr Doyle pointed at the walls. ‘Do you know what that says?’ he asked Hiro.
‘It is an ancient Buddhist quote. As soon as we think we are safe, something unexpected happens.’ Jack pointed to an altar stone on a raised platform at the far end. ‘There’s a parchment on that altar,’ he said, starting towards it.
A groaning came from under the floor.
‘Jack!’ Mr Doyle said. ‘Don’t—’
But he was too late. The piece of floor that Jack had stepped on had begun to tilt downwards. Jack jumped onto the stone in front of him. But it soon began rising out of the ground, so he leapt to the next.
‘I’m coming for you!’ Mr Doyle yelled.
‘No!’ Jack yelled. ‘I’m all right.’
Mr Doyle quickly lit another torch and threw it to Jack. Each block was an enormous half-circle of rock that swivelled on an unseen pivot. Turning back was suicide.
Jack stepped to the next stone. When it started to drop, he jumped onto the next, and the next.
Within seconds he had reached the platform with the raised altar. The stonework here was firm beneath his feet, but the paving behind him continued to turn like cogs in a giant clock. Only when they were at a particular alignment did he catch a glimpse of Mr Doyle and the others.
‘It seems the words on the wall were a warning,’ Hiro yelled.
‘Thanks,’ Jack said, sourly. ‘That’s really helpful.’
‘Never fear, my boy,’ Mr Doyle called. ‘I’m working on a plan.’
Jack studied the parchment. It was a map, similar to the first, but this one clearly showed an island. At one end of it were pictures of stars, and in the midst of these, a sword.
‘Jack! How are you faring?’
After describing the picture to the others, he rolled it up and put it in his coat. ‘What do you think it means?’ he yelled back.
‘I have no idea,’ Mr Doyle said. ‘But we’ll worry about that later. The most important thing is getting you back safely.’
That’s easier said than done, Jack thought.
The stones were continuing to rotate as the torch grew dimmer by the second. If he didn’t get back over the other side soon, he never would.
‘Listen to me, Jack,’ Mr Doyle called. ‘I have worked out the pattern for the return trip, but you must follow it exactly.’
‘Whatever you say.’
Mr Doyle called out a complicated routine of stepping forward and backwards to cross the stones. The instructions went on and on. Finally, when Mr Doyle had repeated them three times, Jack was confident he’d understood them.
‘I can do this,’ Jack called to them. ‘But in case I don’t make it—’
‘You’ll make it,’ Mr Doyle assured him. ‘If you get lost, listen to the sound of my voice. Now, are you ready?’
‘Yes.’
‘Wait...wait...now!’
Jack stepped onto the first stone. He paused and stepped onto the second, then the third. Stepping back to the second, he tried to remember what to do next. Was it forwards again? Or backwards?
‘Forwards!’ Mr Doyle yelled. ‘Now back!’
Jack followed his instructions. There was no time to think. He had to blindly follow Mr Doyle’s orders or he would die. Finally, his legs shaking, he reached the other side. Everyone threw their arms around him.
‘Jack! Thank goodness you’re all right!’ Scarlet said.
‘You kept calm in a difficult situation,’ Hiro said. ‘Well done.’
The sweat was dripping off Jack and he felt faint. Gripping Mr Doyle’s arm, he said, ‘I couldn’t have done it without you. Thank you, sir.’
The detective said nothing, just gave him another tight hug.
‘At least we have the next map,’ Jack said, showing them the parchment. ‘What do you think it means?’
After staring at it in silence for a moment, Mr Doyle slowly shook his head. ‘I have no idea,’ he said. ‘It’s as incomprehensible as the first.’
CHAPTER ELEVEN
‘Have you decided what seminar you’ll be attending today?’ Einstein asked.
Jack, Scarlet and Mr Doyle were sitting in the hotel’s restaurant. They had returned the previous day and pored over the parchment for hours without success. It seemed to be a picture of an island, but there were thousands of islands surrounding Japan. It could take years to find the right one.
So Mr Doyle had suggested they attend some more seminars. They had to keep up appearances that they were only in Japan for the symposium, anyway.
‘Perhaps,’ Mr Doyle said to Einstein. ‘The one about making sheep as big as steamcars sounds fascinating.’
‘So does the one about increasing the brain capacity of chimps,’ Scarlet said, staring at the program. ‘Is this really true? That someone believes a chimp could be made as intelligent as a person?’
‘Some chimps are already more intelligent than people,’ Einstein said. ‘A few politicians, for example.’
They all laughed.
Suddenly there was a ruckus from outside the hotel, and a group of policemen entered the lobby. The officer in charge spoke quickly to the desk clerk, who pushed through the seated diplomats and scientists and came towards Einstein.
After introducing himself as Endo, he said, ‘We must secure the building immediately. The police have informed us that a protest march is coming this way.’
‘Why would that concern us?’
‘The marchers are protesting against the Darwinist League.’
Einstein quickly began spreading the word to the other tables as the police secured the building.
‘We had best postpone the seminars until we know what’s happening,’ he said.
‘As you say,’ Mr Doyle sighed, turning to Jack and Scarlet. ‘I suggest ordering some
morning tea to be delivered to our room.’
Back in the room, Jack peered out their window at the street below. The police had surrounded the building, but there was no sign of any protesters.
Maybe they’ve given up and gone home?
After their tea arrived, another knock came at the door.
‘They must have forgotten something,’ Scarlet said, opening the door. ‘Oh, you’re not—’
‘Forgive me, fräulein,’ a man with a thick German accent said, pushing into the room. ‘The time has come for us to speak.’
‘Who are you?’ Mr Doyle demanded. ‘What are you—?’
The detective stopped. The man in the doorway had thinning black hair, parted to one side, a thick moustache and round-rimmed glasses.
‘Allow me to introduce myself,’ the man said.
‘I know who you are,’ Mr Doyle said. ‘You’re Anton Drexler.’
Jack stared at him. The Nazi leader’s picture had been in newspapers ever since his party had triumphed in the recent elections.
But his photograph had not done him justice. In the flesh, his eyes were strangely cold, like those of a dead fish.
Drexler smiled without humour. ‘It seems my fame has preceded me,’ he said, indicating a seat. ‘May I?’
Mr Doyle nodded.
‘I will get to the point,’ Drexler said. ‘You know we are seeking the same prize.’
‘And what would that be?’
‘You should not play the fool, Herr Doyle. It does not suit you.’
‘And if our goals are the same?’
‘There can be only one winner,’ Drexler said, sitting back in the chair. ‘That will be us.’
‘What makes you think that?’
‘We are stronger, better organised and prepared to do anything to retrieve the sword. You are an old man—like your British empire—a product of a bygone era.’ Drexler spread his arms. ‘Let me speak to you as a friend.’
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