The Mystery of Emerald Flame (Verity Fitzroy and the Ministry Seven Book 2)

by Pip Ballantine

  The groundcrew cast off, and they rose into the air smoothly enough to the accompaniment of Liam's delighted shrieks. Emma sat right in the middle of the basket, clutching Potts, her eyes wild. Christopher and Julia stood near the stern and watched what lay below.

  The city of Justinian and Byzantium slid away beneath them, and Verity experienced a pang that she didn't have the chance to explore even a little. Her mother told her once about the amazing Grand Bazaar, and all the sights and wonders to be found there. Maybe not today, but someday, Verity promised herself she would visit.

  Once beyond the circle of the city, they rose beyond the clouds and rode the breezes towards Anatolia. The bridge of land between east and west was sometimes called Asia Minor. Verity studied it because it was the first place her father had ever gone on a dig. Dead languages, and waves of invaders and settlers had all passed through it. For now, it belonged to the Ottoman Empire, but for how long? The Greeks, the Romans, and the Byzantium Empire probably also thought they would keep it forever, but it passed on to others. History gave Verity a calmer view of the world. Everything was change even if people didn't see it in their lifetimes.

  No one talked to much as they went, just Emma murmuring to Potts, who apparently survived the whole situation by powering down to a low ebb.

  It was not a long journey though, but what lay ahead no one knew. Eventually even Liam gave up staring at clouds, and he and Christopher leaned against the edge of the basket to get a short nap.

  Verity and Julia stood close together, though saying nothing. The English girl didn't quite trust Baffle with his steering of the ship and wouldn't dare to risk sleep. She imagined her friend had other reasons. At the end of this short leg of their journey, would be her mother whom she hadn't seen for years. That must be at least concerning the Scottish girl.

  After about three hours, Baffle opened up the vent in the bag of the airship, and they began their descent through the clouds. Julia's hand locked suddenly around Verity's, as they peered through the remaining mist. Kayseri waited for them below and it was quite a sight.

  The soft rock of the area wore away under the gradual erosion of water, but the ancient inhabitants of Cappadocia had taken it one step further, they burrowed within it.

  Verity gasped at the tall spire that rose from the surrounding flat land like something from a fairy-tale. Flat topped mountains gave them a backdrop of layered blue-grey and white. The Clockwork Country they called Cappadocia, and she could see why. Each of the tall spires gleamed brass and within ticked to their own rhythms. For the Sound in her head it was quite the experience.

  These were later additions of course to the ancient creations which had all been made out of stone. In the Byzantine age Cappadocia became known as a region of innovation and wonders. Here marvels of the ancient world were found everywhere. She recalled the gleam in her father’s eye when he told her about his very first adventure as a young archaeologist. Even just this glimpse of Kayseri gave her a glimpse into why.

  Verity was so fixed on the ancient capped spires, that she almost didn’t take note of the town itself, which wound and wrapped itself around its older neighbours. The other children woke and scrambled to the edge to peer out.

  Even Christopher ogled at the view and the strange and beautiful towers. As they dropped lower towards the small aeroport, details began to emerge; the layers of red and grey stripes in the rock, and the intricacies of the windows on the side of the spires.

  “The tinkers of Cappadocia were sometimes called magicians,” Julia said softly. “What they could do with cog and gear was legendary. So many of their secrets were lost to a great calamity. Many of the cities were left abandoned, and no one knows why.”

  Emma’s brow furrowed. “Is that what your Mum is trying to find out?”

  Julia nodded, her hands clenching on the handle of her valise. “Aye, it’s her life’s work.”

  “Prepare for landing,” Baffle broke in smoothly, but then followed it with an alarming squawk, “Brace! Brace!”

  A rush of panic washed through Verity. She’d been so entranced by the view that she hadn’t been paying attention to the automaton’s workings.

  “Grab hold of the ropes,” she said in what she hoped was a more regulated tone that Baffle’s. At the edge of the basket were rope handles for just such a purpose. The cross-winds as they reached lower elevations were tricky, blowing around the tall spires from down off the mountains.

  A hollow bang made Emma yelp, but it was just Potts’ spherical body bouncing with the turbulence. The area to successfully land the craft seemed very small, but apart from his outburst, Baffle seemed to be in fully working order.

  The groundcrew threw up their hooks and after a bit of jerking around, they were in the winch, being pulled down towards the landing zone.

  “I think next time, Liam should have a go,” Christopher commented, his eyes still somewhat wide. Once they were landed, and the gangway pushed up to the edge of the basket, Baffle released the controls and jerkily reached to open the door.

  The children staggered out of the airship and onto ground. Christopher crossed himself again.

  "I hope you enjoyed the flight," Baffle offered without looking at any of them. It was just what he was programmed to say at the end of an airship journey.

  He must be at least fifty years old, Verity thought, and then wondered what sort of mother entrusted her only child to such a rickety model. She hoped it boded well for Julia, but suspected it didn't.

  Once they all got their legs under them, she dared to look around.

  From the ground the spires were even more impressive, and she would have loved to inspect one, but Baffle was now rocking back and forth while trying to guide them to a cart that was waiting.

  For the Clockwork City, it was a remarkably low-tech way to travel, but they all piled in.

  "It is not the spires my mother is working on," Julia said, gesturing to the cluster of five they passed on the street, "but something that was only discovered six years ago, a whole city underground."

  Christopher folded his arms and grumbled, "Doesn't look like many people live here."

  It was true, as the shaggy black horse pulled their cart through the streets with Baffle at the reins, not many folk were in evidence. Kayseri had a population but not a large one. Men with the local fez on their heads, stood at street corners chatting, while woman walked their children in the direction of a market. From there the smells of cooking meat and tempting spices wafted towards them, and Verity almost asked Baffle for a detour, but the expression on Julia's face seemed to make it imperative for them to reach their destination sooner rather than later.

  "The majority of people are working in the city," she said in a low voice, "you won't see them because they are there underground all day."

  They were not that different to the citizens of the Underground then, hiding from the sun, only to come out later when it was night. She wondered if her friend thought the same thing.

  Outside of Kayseri the plain spread out before them, now nothing but spires and table top mountains of not a very great elevation.

  "All of the tinkerers of Cappodocia lived in the towers," Julia explained, pointing to the nearest one. "They were world renowned in the ancient world. The Emperors and Empresses of Byzantium would come here to see what marvels they had created."

  "And this Emerald Flame was one of them?" Christopher asked, struggling to maintain his level of disinterest in the middle of such a place.

  Julia nodded. "That is what my mother and her dig team believe. Callinicus was the inventor of Greek Fire, and it is believed he worked with many of the tinkerers here to create a delivery mechanism for it."

  "Wot, did they shoot it at people?" Liam asked, his eyes wide and his grin bigger. Leave it up to one of the boys to imagine a rain of death and destruction.

  Leaning down, Julia didn't help. "They did indeed. They had a spout that they pumped it from onto the ships of their enemies, as well
as filling containers with it, sealing them, and then hurling them great distances."

  "Cities and ships burned," Verity said. "It was a terrible weapon, and a very good thing that its mysteries were lost to the ages."

  "You would say that," Christopher said with a roll of his eyes, "you're such a girl Verity."

  She nearly tipped him out of the cart for that. Where he learned such a thing she couldn't imagine. Emma was not nearly so controlled. She punched him in the thigh, right on a nerve, and his leg crumpled right from underneath him. He was only lucky that he hadn't struck more sensitive parts.

  "I'm a girl," Emma shouted at him, "So's Julia, and her mum, and we're all doing good things. Boys are the ones who ruin everything. Wars and stuff are your idea of fun."

  Verity realised she was going to have to do something, so she grabbed Emma and glared at Christopher. "Killing people isn't fun, Chris," she said with a glare. "Burning them alive even less so. I hope you don't think any different."

  He locked eyes with her for a moment, but eventually dropped his gaze to his feet. "I don't think it's fun," he muttered. "I take it back."

  Julia shook her head, but her thoughts must have been distracted, because she didn't jump in like Emma had. "I don't know why my mother is obsessed like she is, but aether is so important to her, maybe she doesn't think about the burning bit."

  After that they were silent as the cart clattered on, and the darkness of the night began to make itself known on the horizon. The plain around them was dark, with the silent fairy chimneys becoming more ominous the less light there was. Finally, after another half an hour or so, there was a faint glow on the horizon.

  As their cart trundled nearer, it revealed itself as a camp that looked very familiar to Verity. Canvas tents huddled around a collection of fires, enough for at least twenty or thirty people she judged.

  "The Camp Callinicus," Baffle creaked out. "Your mother is waiting."

  He must have been programmed to say that, and that maybe that did bode well for a mother-daughter reunion. In the darkness, Julia's hand dropped on top of hers, and it was shaking. Verity patted it to communicate some kind of reassurance, but even the other children with no problematic mother waiting for them, drew closer.

  Potts stared up at her, his cleverly concealed green eyes fixing on her face. "I hope you know what you are doing," he said in a tinny echo of a whisper.

  It was not meant to reassure, and it didn't.

  They pulled up at the edge of the circle, and Baffle lead the way into the camp, moving somewhat easier since he was on familiar ground. Around the fire a circle of people, locals by their dress and language glanced up. Some immediately went back to their bowls of stew, but others stared, so it was easy to pick out which ones were the best informed. A bunch of children at an archaeological dig would be quite surprising—though Verity was certain some of the gazes were locked on Potts rather than the humans.

  "This way, please," Baffle said, his long brass hand waving them on like a generous grandfather. Verity tried to hang back and let Julia be first, but her friend seemed reluctant to do that.

  However, there was no putting it off now. Baffle directed them towards a tent furthest from the circle of fire, and then held the flap open for them all to enter. Silently Verity put her hand against Julia's shoulder, not pushing her, but letting her know that she was there.

  Gas lanterns hung from the ceiling of the tent, so no one had made that much progress with aether here. The faint yellow light made the interior of the tent seem warm.

  A tall woman, with her red-hair tied tightly in a braid, was bent over looking at something on the table, along with a man in a dusty long coat. Another woman with a long dark braid of hair down her back let out a short laugh. "I hardly think that's likely," she barked out.

  The three people didn't see the children at first, and only when Baffle made a creaky approximation of a cough, did they turn. Una McTighe was entirely what Verity might have expected from the mother of Julia; a strong, narrow face, pale as cream and scattered with freckles, and dressed in trousers with a battered leather jacket over a cream shirt. Her fedora hat was a dusty brown and pulled down low over her eyes.

  The other brunette woman was also dressed in trousers, and about the same age as Una, but her face was sharp angles and deep shadows. She put her hands on her hips on seeing the children and looked most displeased at their presence.

  Verity would have examined the women more closely but the man with them got all of Verity's attention. Dark haired, with high cheekbones, and a curl of a smile on his lip, he was very handsome, but that was not what surprised her. It was the fact that she knew him. She didn't know his name though—his real one at least. At the Delancy Academy he went by the name Professor Matej Vidmar, though he had in fact been the brother of the woman masquerading as the owner of the establishment.

  Her mouth dropped open, and she knew she wasn't the only one who recognised him. Both Emma and Julia had taken his class, though Christopher and Liam had not seen the inside of the academy, so he was a stranger to them. At the present Julia only had eyes for her mother, but Emma's hand wrapped around Verity's and tugged. It could have come from a million miles away.

  He stared at her and she stared right back at him. Neither of them obviously knew what to say. He was a little more unkempt than when she'd last seen him, riding about in a carriage in the company of her Uncle Octavius.

  Now that Verity thought about it, it made perfect sense. If her uncle wanted the formula for the Emerald Flame, he would send someone to keep an eye on the preeminent scientist in the field of aether manipulation.

  She felt a fool for not being more prepared. It took her a moment to tear her eyes away from the Professor, or whatever he was calling himself here.

  "Julia," Una McTighe said, and her voice was the same as if she'd been ordering a cup of tea at a shop. A silence hung between them for a moment, as if neither of them knew what to do. Clenching and unclenching her hands, she eventually held them out to Julia, as if she knew that was what one should do but wasn't exactly convinced of it deep down.

  Verity noted her friend did not exactly rush into her arms, but she moved over to receive the most awkward hug in the history of reunions. Christopher shot her a glance and then made the drink gesture that suggested he thought now might be a good time for a tipple.

  She frowned at him, while at the same time trying not to meet Vidmar's eyes.

  When Julia and her mother pulled back, Una gestured to him. "This is my aide Marcello Mugavero. He's been working with me for the last month or so." Then she turned to the other woman. "This is Doctor Glynis Driscoll, she's our financier since last year."

  Driscoll did not say anything, but her pursed lips spoke volumes.

  Verity crooked an eyebrow. She wondered what other sorts of work Marcello did for Una. She wouldn’t put it past him to use his devastating good looks to wangle his way into some vital knowledge or other. She knew her face was in the process of folding into an angry scowl and she didn’t really care.

  Part of her wanted to burst out the truth, and point a finger at the aide, but she didn’t want to play all her cards yet. When Julia turned to actually look at the man in the tent it took her a moment to put the pieces together.

  Before she could blurt anything out, Verity lurched forward. “Julia, are you going to introduce us?”

  Already Una McTighe was staring at the four extra children and the little round automaton.

  Potts took it on himself in that moment to pipe up, “I am Professor Alexand—“

  Verity felt awful about it, but she kicked him hard enough to send him spinning across the tent and crash through the canvas completely out of sight.

  “Dodgy programming,” she said with a grin, before shoving out her hand towards Una, “I’m Verity Fitzroy.”

  Like the Ministry, all of them had come up with cover names on the journey over, but under the sudden pressure of this unexpected situation, Verity complete
ly lost sight of what they’d chosen, and blurted out her real name. She’d had a different name at the academy, so maybe the man that now called himself Marcello would think this was a false one too.

  Julia half-turned, rolled her eyes, but proceeded to introduce Christopher, Julia and Liam, but by first names only. “My class-mates, Mum,” she said. “You said I could bring a few to the dig.”

  “I did… did I?” Una turned back to stare down at whatever was spread on the table, before muttering, “Well… if I did I suppose Baffle can fit you all in a tent.”

  Driscoll rolled her eyes, but didn't say anything.

  Glancing back over the shoulder, she actually patted Julia on the head. “It’s late, why don’t you wee kiddies go get some sleep, and we’ll talk in the morning.”

  The devastated look on Julia’s head was impossible to miss, and yet her mother did. “Alright Mum.” She stretched and yawned. “We have had a long journey.”

  Una nodded. “The morning then. Now Marcello, I think we should concentrate on this corridor tomorrow…”

  The man glanced at Verity only once before turning back to the plans on the table. She could have sworn he gave his head a slight shake, before Baffle shepherded them out of the tent, and towards another a short distance away.

  Emma went to say something, but Verity held up her finger and mouthed, Not here. They did need to sleep, but while the others might get some shut eye, she doubted it very much if she or Julia would be able to get any rest tonight.

  This was not what either of them had expected, and it would take some intense thought before the sun came up the next morning.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Unexpected Italian

  After the unfortunate run in with Marcello, there was no way on God’s green earth that Verity was going to sleep. The tent they were shown to was perfectly adequate after Baffle brought in more camp beds to accommodate all of them. Liam and Christopher threw themselves into theirs like they hadn’t slept in a hundred years, which was jolly nice for them.