Jack stared. The ‘X’ marking the spot could have been anywhere within a hundred mile radius of the city.
‘That’s a big area to search,’ he said. ‘And how did it end up there?’
‘One of the ancient legends surrounding the Kusanagi sword describes it being lost in a shipwreck.’
‘But that was centuries ago.’
‘We mustn’t give up,’ Edgar said. ‘The British government is depending on us. Besides,’ he added, ‘it’s a powerful weapon. We mustn’t allow it to fall into enemy hands.’
‘Mr Doyle, er, your brother, says that it’s just a legend.’
‘A tapestry was recovered last year in northern Japan illustrating a battle where the sword was used. Historical figures from that period are also present, meaning the sword must have existed.’
The old man in the garden said it was real, Jack thought. Now Edgar is saying the same thing.
Mr Doyle stuck his head through the doorway. ‘We’re ready to leave,’ he said, frowning at Edgar. ‘What are you doing?’
‘I’m coming with you,’ Edgar said. ‘I wouldn’t miss your closing address for all the world.’
Now Mr Doyle peered more closely at the two of them.
‘I hope you’re not filling Jack’s head with foolishness,’ he said.
‘Wouldn’t dream of it. The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool,’ Edgar said.
After Mr Doyle left, Edgar leant in close to Jack. ‘Let’s just keep this between ourselves,’ he said. ‘Mum’s the word.’
‘I don’t want to lie to Mr Doyle.’
‘And I would never ask you to,’ Edgar said. ‘But all truth is relative. I once borrowed a painting from a French art gallery that had been borrowed six times before.’
‘You mean stolen?’ Jack said.
‘Such a crass word! But who was the real owner?’ He gave his moustache a twirl. ‘Finders keepers, that’s what I say.’
Jack nodded, unsure.
They headed up to the roof where Scarlet, Mr Doyle and most of the members of the symposium had already assembled. The storm the night before had left the sky over Tokyo clear, but the air sultry, with another bank of clouds crowding the horizon.
Scarlet sidled over, staring at Edgar. ‘Where did you get those clothes?’ she asked.
Jack glanced at Edgar Doyle. His cavalier hat was the same, but he was wearing a brand new pair of leather pants and white shirt.
‘I went out shopping,’ Edgar said. ‘A man must look his best.’
‘You didn’t steal them?’ Scarlet said. ‘I’m sure they were in the window of that department store over the road, and I saw the police—’
‘As if I’d do something like that!’ Edgar laughed. He pointed over her shoulder. ‘My goodness! Look at that!’
He was pointing at an airship that had just appeared from behind some buildings.
‘Bazookas,’ Jack said. ‘It’s a...a...’
‘A flower,’ Scarlet said, astonished.
‘It is,’ Einstein said, joining them. ‘Although some fairly dramatic modifications have been made.’
The crimson ship was shaped like a trumpet flower. A hundred feet long and twenty wide, the front curled back, revealing the bridge.
‘That’s not glass,’ Einstein explained, pointing to the windows. ‘It’s derived from gossamer—spider thread. The ship uses photosynthesis to create energy. Heated air is fired from the rear. It’s the first of its kind.’
Livanov pushed through the crowd to them. ‘Impressed by our little surprise?’ she asked. ‘We’ve christened her the Carlton, after her designer.’
What a time to be alive, Jack thought. Dragonflies and flowers for ships, whales for submarines.
At the same time, he felt a shiver of fear. The familiar world he had always known was dying and a new one was taking its place.
What is next?
Minutes later, they were aboard and Jack was seated with the others on the strangest bench he had ever seen. Hard as mahogany, it was one of twenty rows that grew straight out of the floor. A horn blared, bowlines made from some kind of vine were cast off and the Carlton moved away.
The strangest thing about this ship is the silence.
Jack had spent his whole life around steam. Its production meant there was always the crackling of fire, chugging engines and the banging of metal. This vessel moved in almost total silence, the only sound being an odd wheezing from beneath.
‘Those are the ship’s bellows,’ Einstein explained.
‘You said the ship was powered by photosynthesis?’ Scarlet said. ‘That’s sunlight, isn’t it?’
‘It is, and you’re probably wondering how the ship works when there’s no sunlight?’
‘I am.’
‘The excess energy is stored in bladders that run along the bottom. They’re still rudimentary, and only hold about four hours of charge, but we’re working to improve them.’
Tokyo passed beneath them as Einstein continued to speak, but Jack’s focus was on the city.
This is a city of the future, he thought. The whole world will be like this one day.
It was all very strange. He’d always thought of London as being the centre of civilisation, but now he realised it was just another cog in a very big machine.
But what about the Kusanagi sword? Where did it fit in, a mythical sword with magical powers? Mr Doyle had scoffed at it, but Edgar thought it was real.
Is there room in the world for both science and magic?
They soon headed east over open sea. It was late morning and the sea was busy with fleets of fishing boats. Peering down at them, Jack could imagine a time when they became obsolete.
You’ll probably be driving sharks in a few years.
When the ship had left Japan and the fishing boats behind, Jack and Scarlet went to the rear where it was quieter.
‘Edgar says the Kusanagi sword is real,’ Jack said, staring at the sea. ‘We can’t leave without finding it.’
‘Don’t be silly, Jack. Mr Doyle’s found his brother. We should return to England.’
‘But the prime minister ordered us to find it. Otherwise, the sword may fall into Fujita’s hands, or Drexler.’
‘You heard Mr Doyle. There probably isn’t any sword, and if there is, it doesn’t have mystical powers.’
‘Maybe science isn’t the answer to everything.’
Suddenly a cry came from within the ship. Jack and Scarlet ran inside to find people pressed to the portside windows. Floating in the ocean was a wooden warehouse on a square metal barge.
Jack frowned. ‘That’s not quite what I was expecting,’ he said.
Einstein sidled up. ‘That’s Mizu Dock,’ he explained. ‘A diving bell drops from it to the city.’
The airship swung in low over the platform. Lines were lowered and minutes later Jack disembarked onto the swaying dock. He peered at the distant horizon. They were in the middle of nowhere. It was hard to beli
eve one of the wonders of the modern age lay beneath.
The crowd shuffled into the warehouse to find an iron ball suspended by a pulley over a pool.
‘That must be the diving bell,’ Scarlet said.
Warehouse staff directed Jack and the others up metal stairs to the bell’s entrance. A spiral staircase led to three floors below. There was no seating inside, but oxygen tanks lined the walls in case of emergency. As the hatch closed, and the diving bell was gently lowered into the water, Livanov approached Jack and Scarlet.
‘Are you excited?’ she asked.
‘Absolutely,’ Jack said. ‘How long will it take to reach the city?’
‘Hours. People can become seriously ill if they descend too quickly.’
‘Is that the bends?’ Scarlet asked.
‘It is,’ Dr Livanov said, delighted. ‘It’s lovely to see a young woman interested in science.’ She went on to explain the condition was caused by nitrogen leaving the cells too quickly. ‘It can cause extreme pain in the joints, even death.’
As they chatted, Jack noticed Mr Doyle standing by himself, peering out at the water. Jack excused himself to join him.
‘You seem quiet, sir,’ Jack said as they began their descent. ‘Deep in thought?’
‘Just thinking about Edgar,’ Mr Doyle said. ‘It’s rather a shock seeing him after all this time.’
‘You’ve never missed him?’
‘I’ve never forgiven him.’ Mr Doyle sighed. ‘My father and stepmother died a few years after Edgar was first sent to prison. I believe it broke their hearts, and contributed to their early deaths.’
‘Do you mind if I ask you a question, sir? A personal one?’
‘Please do.’
‘Well,’ Jack said, ‘Edgar has that name for you. Piggie...’
Mr Doyle sighed. ‘I was a little rotund as a child,’ he said. ‘By the time I was a young man, I had shed all my excess weight, but Edgar has teased me about it ever since.’
Outside, the water had turned pitch black. Then finally someone gave a cry from one of the portholes.
‘There it is! I can see it.’
Mr Doyle and Jack crowded around a window.
‘Bazookas,’ Jack muttered.
Mizu City looked like a glowing strand of pearls on the ocean bottom. Everything around was in complete darkness. The enormous spheres were a mile in circumference, translucent green, and linked by a single iron tunnel. The upper half of each sphere was transparent. They contained apartment blocks, warehouses, factories and roads.
‘I wonder what goes on there,’ Scarlet said, pointing at the darkened bottom of the spheres.
‘I read about it in a book,’ Jack said. ‘That’s where they keep all the pipes, air-conditioning and maintenance systems.’
Einstein’s voice came over the speaking tube. ‘Despite their shape, we refer to each of the chambers as domes. Domes One, Two, Three and Four are living and research quarters. Five is used for energy production and waste management.’
‘Truly incredible,’ Mr Doyle said. ‘It looks like a living thing.’
Dr Livanov, hearing his comment, stepped over. ‘It is a living thing,’ she said. ‘The city was grown from a modified form of sargassum seaweed.’
‘And inside?’
‘The buildings are made from a coral variant, but the power supply is still steam, unfortunately,’ she said. ‘The biggest holdup during construction was the transportation of the steam-powered generators and factories to the domes.’
The diving bell continued to descend. A few minutes later it dropped down through a hole in Dome One.
Looking up through the porthole, Jack saw the top contract tight. Then the water drained from the chamber, revealing a walkway leading to a hatch at the bottom.
They left the diving bell one by one and entered a cylindrical, metal room with a ramp running along it. Great iron hatches were at each end. One opened and they all walked through. A moment later they stepped into the dome.
Jack stared about in wonder. It was a cityscape, not unlike London, with buildings, parks and roads. A library and town hall were directly in front. Further down the street were shopfronts, but only a few businesses were open. A single steamcar trundled down one of the roads.
The place smelt like the sea. The light leaked beyond the transparent walls, and Jack saw a school of fish zoom by, followed by a squid.
Jack swallowed. It was frightening to think that the walls were the only thing saving them from being crushed by the pressure.
‘Don’t be too alarmed,’ Einstein said, seeing the worried expression on his face. ‘The walls are stronger than steel.’
‘And if something were to break through?’
Einstein hesitated. ‘That would be worrisome,’ he said. ‘But not even a whale could do that.’
Reporters and photographers were quick to set up bellows cameras and take pictures, using flash lamps. As the guest of honour, Mr Doyle was asked to pose with scientists. After Scarlet had wandered off to look into one of the shops, Edgar sidled up to Jack.
‘Incredible, isn’t it?’ Edgar said.
‘It’s amazing,’ Jack said. ‘I never knew the city was being...grown.’
‘And more than that,’ Edgar said, quietly. ‘We’re closer than ever to the Kusanagi sword. It may only lie a few miles from here.’
‘So how—’
‘—will we get to it?’ Edgar said. ‘There is a plan in the works, my boy. I’ll keep you advised.’ He reached into his pocket and sprayed on some more cologne. ‘Ah, nothing like Soir de Lyon!’
‘Is that a different fragrance?’
‘It is! A man must reinvent himself to confuse his enemies! A different appearance. A different scent—’
‘But where did you get it from?’
‘A lovely man in the diving bell gave it to me,’ Edgar said, gripping Jack’s arm. ‘The generosity of strangers is profound.’
The newcomers were taken to the Imperial hotel in Dome Two. It was a huge stone building, more like a small palace than a hotel, with marble floors and a wide, twisting staircase. Potted palms decorated the foyer. A Japanese restaurant was to the right of the reception desk. Jack had to remind himself that they were miles under the sea.
Their rooms were comfortable chambers on the third floor. Jack, Scarlet and Mr Doyle would share a room while Edgar was across the hall. The rooms had been decorated in the Western style, and so they had beds rather than futons. Jack was rather pleased. Futons took a little getting used to.
He spent a moment unpacking his few belongings. He patted his pockets, relieved to find he still had his compass and locket of his parents.
A knock at the door turned out to be Edgar. He smiled broadly at Mr Doyle as he entered.
‘Piggie!’ he boomed. ‘You’ve done very well for yourself. You’ve clearly got friends in high places!’
‘I’ve been friends with Einstein for some years,’ Mr Doyle said, sourly.
‘I could get quite accustomed to this!’
; Mr Doyle’s eyes narrowed. ‘Don’t bother,’ he said. ‘We’re only here for a few days so I can give a presentation, and then we’re leaving.’
‘So soon?’ Edgar glanced sideways at Jack. ‘But we’re so close to finding the sword.’
‘The sword may never be found,’ Mr Doyle said. ‘I hope you’ll forget this hocus-pocus and return to England.’
‘Piggie...’
‘And stop calling me that blasted name!’ Mr Doyle exploded. ‘My name is Ignatius!’
Scarlet interrupted. ‘Possibly we could go on a tour of the city?’ she said. ‘I noticed one was being planned in the lobby.’
‘Wonderful,’ Mr Doyle said, regaining his composure. ‘We might as well make the most of our time while we’re here.’
They returned to the lobby where most of the scientists, diplomats and journalists had already assembled. The city manager, a man by the name of Elias Blair, had offered to personally show the party around. A stout man, he had a huge handlebar moustache and a deep booming voice.
‘Welcome to Mizu City!’ he declared. ‘Today I will show you the Eighth Wonder of the Modern World. What you’ll be seeing is the future! If you have any questions, please let me know. If there is a break in the dome, everyone hold your breath!’
He laughed, but nobody else did.
After taking them through domes one to four, Blair pointed out empty apartment blocks, government buildings and facilities. Someone finally asked him about the population of Mizu City.
‘Only a few hundred people currently live here,’ he said. ‘Your group has added considerably to that population.’
‘Why so few people?’ a journalist inquired.
‘While the city is fully operational, many of its systems are still being tested.’
The fifth dome was different. Filled with machinery, it smelt of smoke and steam. Jack noticed it was hotter too.
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