'What?' Rey growled.
Ramsey squinted and looked over the whole machine, knowing that he had watched Jo enter the correct details - he had expected the Horn to fire a blast of vortex rings from the cannon muzzle just as much as everybody else.
'Try it again!' cried Rey.
Jo concentrated on her screen, double-checking the parameters she had entered and reselecting the target settings. She pressed the 'enter' key and looked up; although she did not expect the machine to move from its current trajectory setting she was dumbfounded that nothing else happened - the switches on the side of the barrel were not firing. There was no rapid thrill as the circuitry injected the precise surges of electricity needed to shear a ring of Aetheric energy from the core of toroidal activity whirling in the bell housing, for the whole cannon to blast a pulsed beam and shoot straight through the corrugated sheet metal roof above them up into the wintery atmosphere.
Rey's eyes blazed like never before, his suspicions had just been confirmed in spite of his hope that he had been wrong in his assessment. The Horn was a dud, it did not work and all of his fears would no doubt become a reality very soon.
'Shut it off,' he commanded, 'shut the damn thing down!'
Jo looked nervously to Loftus and then started the shut-down sequence. The pipe barrel swung back to align itself to its resting position, the mount swivelling as the cannon gently hissed to a stop. She tapped in a few commands and the blue light emanating from the housing was abruptly extinguished as the million bees inside of that strange looking hive took the communal decision to stop buzzing. The motors powering the counter-rotating cylinders started to wind down, the din of the whine fading as they gradually spun to a halt on their perfectly balanced axle bearings.
Loftus slammed his hand against the red button that finally switched off the cannon and with the whine of dying machinery in the background, Rey clambered down the stack of straw bales he had been standing on, jumping down to alight next to Ramsey.
'It would seem that your wish came true,' he offered without looking at him.
Jo stood up and came to the mesh of the cage.
'Sir, I don't know what happened, I mean, the firing sequence didn't complete but I don't understand why, the system diagnostics do not indicate that anything is wrong, if you give me some time I can check the circuits and the pulse switches, it may be something simple, maybe the cold weather affecting -'
'Don't bother,' said Rey staring at the cannon, 'you won't get it to work.'
'- but sir.'
'You expected it to fire didn't you?' Rey called back over his shoulder.
Ramsey looked up, relieved that nothing had happened but very confused all the same.
'Yes. I expected it to fire, it should have worked perfectly.'
Rey nodded, chewing on the inside of his cheek and for the longest moment the others all stood watching him. It was Loftus that eventually broke the silence.
'Plan B sir?'
'Plan B,' nodded Rey, 'get it rigged, Jo can help you. In the mean time I'll get Akosua to have everyone meet here in fifteen minutes, I want to tell the whole team at once.'
Loftus nodded and they watched as Rey turned about and stalked out of the barn, his heavy brow tightly bunched and knotted as he grimaced malevolently.
'Project Merkur - relating to 'Mercury', the messenger of the gods -'
Rey spoke the words with a hint of despondency as he stood with his arms tightly folded in front of his entire crew of twelve team members, their faces showing a mixture of anxiety and concern, their impromptu gathering an obvious indicator of something significant.
'I'll be quick about this for reasons that will become even more apparent in a moment, but it is important that you all hear what I have to say as our whole game plan needs to change and we have to be ready for the worst.'
The assembled audience glanced at one another nervously, everything had seemed to have gone according to plan so far and even the minor issues they had faced had been dealt with efficiently and without any negative effect.
'Although our precise mission has been highly confidential, it should be no surprise to you that we were tasked with deploying a weapon so significant in its effect that the voice of our Order could not be ignored. I can tell you now that our purpose was to make the weather, to blanket the capital of the United States of America with a storm of snow, a demonstration of the power that we now possess.'
Everyone looked to each other again, raising eyebrows and murmuring but it was Akosua who spoke.
'Sir, it is already snowing, what difference would we make?'
Rey smiled and nodded.
'You're right Akosua, it is already snowing and that is exactly what made our plan possible. This weapon has a wide range of possible effects, it can be calibrated to burn entire cities or reduce them to well below freezing point, however, it requires a large amount of energy to cause such effects on a large scale, not something that can be deployed on the back of a truck. For this reason, we needed the raw materials already in place in order to manufacture our own creations.'
Looking between the attendant faces to see if they understood his meaning, Rey smiled to them in reassurance.
'We needed an existing natural weather pattern in order to manufacture a more extreme effect. We can't make it rain unless there is some moisture in the air, we can't make it snow if there are no high or low pressure fronts to provide the temperature differentials necessary. The point is, this time of year provides the perfect opportunity to make the weather as all of the raw materials are already there for us to take to a more extreme level. That was our mission, to cover Washington DC in a blanket of snow, nothing too cataclysmic but still significant and certainly enough for the US Government to sit up and take notice.'
'Sir?' Akosua questioned unsurely. 'Have we been recalled, do we have a new target?'
Smirking with resignation and shaking his head, Rey turned to the mesh of the Faraday cage enclosing the Horn.
'Brothers and Sisters, this machine couldn't produce a single snow-flake let alone enough ice for a gin and tonic, it's a decoy - a dud, a fake. It doesn't work!'
The murmuring was infused with gasps and moans of derision, all of them incredulous at Rey's dénouement. He turned back to them and looked directly at Ramsey.
'Tell them -'
The Private coughed to clear his throat.
'Patrician Faber is right. Against all protocol and my better judgement a test fire was attempted.'
He glanced coyly at Rey before continuing.
'Everything was performed according to operational procedure but the fact is the machine doesn't work. It will never work. I have since checked it over with Sister Mistress Moore and we have ascertained that the diagnostic systems have been altered to falsely show what we would expect to see, which is why all of our system checks seem to show that everything is operating as expected.
'The reality is that no vortex core is produced within the bell housing. It creates some ionisation and electro-magnetic effects, but nothing that couldn't be reproduced with a high-street plasma ball, albeit on a much larger scale. If we ran it for too long, we'd run out of battery power eventually and it would stop working entirely whereas the core of a working cannon draws its energy needs directly from the Aether once it is up and running at operational speed.'
He looked sullenly at Rey.
'This machine was never intended to fire.'
Rey's head was tilted forwards but he raised his eyes to meet every pair looking back at him.
'Make no mistake, this cannon is here according to a plan, just not the plan that we thought we were working to.'
He turned to Akosua and smiled.
'Our little jaunt to The Netherlands wasn't a last minute trip at all. It was the plan, or I should say, a major part of it. The whole point was to get the security services on our tails and for them to pick up a trail that leads directly to this farmhouse. Our role is purely diversionary, me, you, the team,' he
looked back through the mesh, 'and especially the Horn.'
A silence descended over the barn before Private Cohen spoke up.
'Sir, if this is a diversion, then I assume that the real thing is out there somewhere?'
'Damn right it is!'
Rey was adamant in his response.
'I have no doubt that Washington DC or New York or some other population centre will be enjoying a very cold and snowy beginning to February, however, it won't be us pulling the trigger. The fact is, the US security services are looking for this weapon, we are here to give them something to find in order to keep the real thing safely undiscovered. My guess is that even if the US realises that they have found a dud, ten feet of snow on the White House lawn should still remind them not to proceed with their investigations so aggressively. It may become obvious to the US that they have been taken for a ride but they will have to be much more circumspect in the future, hampering any further investigation. Our whole purpose has been to contain their ongoing search and induce a fear of infiltration. Personally, I think that it has already worked.'
'Sir?'
It was Corporal Clare Hunt who was raising a question, in actuality a Sister of the same rank as Akosua but with less experience being a Mistress of the fifth degree rather than a tenth degree.
'Why were we not told this from the beginning? We could have performed our job knowing that the weapon was simply a diversion.'
The murmur of support that rippled through the team illustrated that each of them had harboured the same question and they all wanted an answer.
'The plan was to make it as real as possible, especially so in the worst case scenario. I have no doubt that you would all have performed your duties with the same level of commitment no matter if you had known that the weapon was a decoy, but the point is, if you were captured as a result of the now obviously inevitable arrival of the security services, you may have been made to confess the reality of the situation.
'This set-up was supposed to convince the security services that the weapon eventually gets destroyed - always our primary contingency if under attack - and having a confession that it is in fact a decoy destroys that illusion. The idea was that we had to be as much in the dark as the people we are protecting it from. Don't get me wrong, I've had as much trouble as anybody getting to grips with that notion but believe me, I have come around to it in spite of my current - exposé.'
It was Akosua who responded as the team begrudgingly began to see some purpose to their situation.
'So if we're meant to be found, then we can expect an assault at any time? I mean, since we're here to make them think that they've found our weapons capability with a view to capturing or destroying it, then that won't work if they don't actually find us and besides, we all know that we're a decoy team now. We don't have much choice in how we respond.'
'Exactly!' grinned Rey.
'Which leads me to my next announcement. We are here to be found, of that I have no doubt and as Akosua points out, we weren't supposed to know that the Horn isn't real which makes our preparations all the more important. However, we've always known that we're on our own up here, so the plan continues. We do our job. The only difference is that we can now definitely expect an assault but we'll be ready for it; we play our roles well enough to engage in a fire-fight, destroy the Horn and then fall-back without letting on the reality of the situation.'
Rey started to pace slowly back and forth.
'We've always had a fall-back contingency but we need to complete our mission first. We can pre-empt our retreat and double-check our escape route but our mission still stands. They need to think that the weapon has been destroyed. We have a good perimeter and radar to give us plenty of warning of any approach. We'll secure the farmhouse and follow our evacuation plan as and when necessary.'
Akosua nodded, Loftus grinned and the other team members appeared satisfied that they had a plan of action. It was Private Cohen that spoke up.
'Sir, is it fair to say that we're in a live fire situation now?'
Rey looked to Loftus who took a deep breath.
'Correct, live fire! Discard your blank firing adapters and load up on grenades. Wilson, you have the RPG, I want you to stay close to me for directed fire. We'll hand out ammo once we're in the farmhouse and take up defensive positions. This is the real deal, we will be fired upon and it is going to get rough.'
Everybody muttered and some were even clearly pleased that there was now no doubt about the actions that were expected of them, however Ramsey suddenly spoke up.
'Why have you told us sir? You said that the whole point was to keep us in the dark in case we were captured and interrogated, but we all know now. Why?'
Rey thought for a moment before closing his eyes for a second or two.
'You're being asked to put your lives on the line - I happen to think that you deserve to know why. It doesn't change the outcome, but it may change exactly what you need to do. Capture is not an option or this whole thing is pointless. I wanted you to know that. It clarifies some of the decisions you may have to make.'
Ramsey swallowed hard and his face became blank.
'Sir!'
'It is going to get rough and it will probably be sooner rather than later, but be assured that there will be an assault on this position at some point. You can forget any ideas of the local community police officer turning up on a bicycle. I fully expect Special Forces to be deployed and their initial aim will probably be to capture us and secure the Horn. Our response will rapidly change that approach to kill and secure.'
Rey's voice became solemn and heavy.
'Brothers and Sisters, the reality is that some of us will not survive this encounter. We've all taken an oath; from our earliest years in the Holy Order of Thrones and it has been our sworn undertaking to provide the sword arm and shield of our Order. We are now being called upon to perform that duty in earnest and, possibly, to even make the ultimate sacrifice. Over the coming hours or even days, we may question whether we are doing the right thing but keep your faith Brothers and Sisters, we are living a moment that will become as much a part of our history as anything that has ever gone before. For us, history is right now, be part of it, be proud of it!'
A silence pervaded the barn but Rey could see the fire that was starting to ignite within the eyes of his team. They would do their duty he was sure. They would all make the ultimate sacrifice if they had to, but he sincerely hoped that it would not come to that.
A sharp crack erupted as Loftus clapped his hands in finality.
'Let's go to it!'
Chapter XXV
Breaking in, breaking out
The voices in the corridor on the other side of the door to her room had faded away and Gertrude took a step back, becoming thoughtful as she ruminated over what she had just heard. She had listened intently to the barely concealed conversation outside as she dithered near the entrance, knowing that her room was under surveillance and pretending that she was selecting a book from the stack that had been piled on the small bombe chest near to the door.
Apparently, the little man was leaving, he grumbled to the guard outside her door that he had been called away and would be catching a train soon, however, he had left explicit instructions to the sentry and, no doubt, to whoever else was occupying her prison building.
Gertrude started to nibble at her lower lip, an idea was starting to form, the specifics and details were still wholly obscure but she suddenly felt that this turn of events somehow presented an opportunity to escape. She was suddenly struck by a thought, she had read about her countrymen imprisoned in Colditz castle during World War II and it was notable that the Dutch officers had been the most prolific in engineering apparently ad-hoc escape attempts from that supposedly secure institution. She took some inspiration from her recollection since she imagined that she was actually in Germany, the little man had referred to her prison as a 'castle' and after all, she was a Dutch citizen.
Of course she n
eeded to escape and at the very least, in the worst case scenario that she was caught during her first attempt her breakout could provide some detail of the surroundings of her predicament which might come in handy for a further attempt. She knew where she was starting from and her objective was clear, she just needed to fill in the detail of getting from her room to the safety of the world outside.
Staring up at Burg Linn on the outskirts of the small town of Krefeld, Pieter was amazed that such a place was probably now holding Gertrude Verker. Although it was clearly a public museum, various signs revealed that it was undergoing refurbishment and was closed for a couple of months yet. He briefly wondered whether he should contact the local authorities but decided against it, time was possibly short for Gertrude and he wanted to move fast.
He had arrived at the last known location of the Renault van and had immediately spotted the ominous shape of the castle looming out from a low layer of mist that had risen from the moat waters that surrounded it. The building was magnificent and evidently well-maintained and the imposing towers and steeply sloping tiled roof peaks of the main buildings were dominated by a single large circular tower at one end of the compound that must have provided fantastic views of the surrounding countryside.
His interest had been spiked simply by the fact that it was the only building in a large expanse of woodland that covered the area and it was not until he had actually wandered past the wooden bridge leading to the main gatehouse that he concluded that the place was being used to hide the abducted girl. He had only caught a glimpse of the front of a Renault van, a small angular view spied between the gap of the heavy wooden doors of the main gate as they had swung closed following the exit of a plumber's van which had been driven off along the trees lined approach road.
The glimpse had been enough though, he was sure it was the same van as he had been tracking and that meant that Gertrude was probably inside. The building was obviously being used as a convenient lair whilst the renovation work was being undertaken - a safe haven even though it was open to the public during the tourist season and the workmen probably knew nothing of the captive within.
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