“Romney.” she said, “I am in trouble here. This thing is going to break me into pieces.” He did not answer but there was a slight popping sound as he became corporeal again, appearing at Victoria’s feet out of thin air. The blue knight gestured towards him but Romney laughed.
“No metal parts, my friend.” he laughed, and reaching down to the ground he grabbed the severed arm from the floor and picking it up twisted the green wires at the end, the fingers on the arm flexing as Romney pointed it at the black knight and fired. There was a loud explosion and the black knight’s head exploded, the creature falling to the ground, releasing Victoria as it did so. She gasped and jumped up as Romney saw the Blue and Red knights square up to her.
“You know what?” Said Romney, “I have just about enough of being fooled around with now. Stand back boss. Enough is enough. You don’t get to be a demon of the third circle of hell without knowing a fair bit about this and that.” He gestured with his left arm and the blue knight seemed suddenly confused, locking its magnetic weapon onto the red knight, who instantly tried to deflect the effect of the magnetic field with its own gravitronic weapon. Slowly the two knights began to increase the power they were throwing at each other to try and break themselves apart. This was not helped much by the fact that each of the Dependables seemed to be having sudden problems with logical thought. As she stood watching them the severed arm was dragged from her grip and flew through the air into the centre of the maelstrom of energy at the middle of the room.
“A gravitronic bomb.” gasped Victoria as Romney grabbed her by the hand and began to pull her as far away from the loud humming sound that surrounded the two locked knights. “My. That’s clever.”
“Just lucky.” he said, and disappeared. “And whatever you do, don’t move!”
“Believe you me I am not going to.” she said as the two knights reached critical mass. There was a huge explosion of light and the two knights blew themselves apart. The force of the blast was huge, and the roof of the labyrinth detonated into the air, sending the earth packed above it high into the sky, creating a crater that led onto the grounds of the castle above. At the bottom of the crater stood Victoria, and with a shout of exultation she undid something from the belt of her jump suit and fired a hook high above her. Pressing a switch on the hook it began to pull her up and out of the hole. As she reached the lip of the crater she leapt high into the air and landed on the lawn. The section of the labyrinth that she had escaped from unfortunately seemed to be under the west wing of the house, and she stood watching as the east wing collapsed under itself, explosions ripping through the castle, walls falling and smoke rising into the air.
“I hope he was insured.” laughed Romney as the dust began to clear. “How many knights left?”
“Two.” she said, “Both black.”
“Unless they were in the east wing.” he said.
“Oh I don't think that would stop them.” she said. “Come. We need to find Corrigan and inform the authorities.”
She ran across the lawn, keeping a safe distance from the ruins of the east wing where ripples of blue plasma were still crackling amongst the fallen stones, the air thick with dust and smoke.
“The main building is ahead.” said Romney. “The west wing beyond that. The zeppelin tower is at the far end of the main building.”
“Ships there?”
“Currently empty.” he said. “Be careful Victoria. There are still two of those black Dependables about and the broken arm you managed to detach is still in the labyrinth.
“Pity that.” she said, “Could have come in useful.”
She reached the main doorway which was oddly quiet and raced into a wide reception area. She heard voices from her left and was about to head in that direction when she heard footsteps approaching from the other direction and so she ducked back behind an ornately carved pillar and watched as a maid walked across the room disappearing into another room on her right.
She ducked out from the pillar and stepped forward just as one of the Dependables painted all in black ran from around the corner to face her. She had barely time to think as the knight punched her directly in the chest, and she was flung through the air, skidding across the black and white tiled floor of the reception room. The Creature was upon her again as she tried to stand, and raising its foot as it stood above her, it stamped down on her arm and she felt the bones crack there, he computational engine flashing warning signs across her vision.
Then it took hold of her one more time and threw her out through the main door, the wood and glass doors shattering into pieces as she found herself on the lawn where the second Dependable was waiting for her. This too was black in colour, and it lifted her up and then punched her under the chin and she lost her sight for a second, the pain hitting her like a hammer as she skidded across the grass. Both Dependables advanced on her now, the first firing its pulse cannon at her left arm and she watched in horror as her left hand was blown to shreds, her pulse weaponry now lost, her systems screaming at her wildly.
“Get up!” screamed Romney, “If you stay down it is all over!”
“My hand.” she gasped, and another pulse beam took her in the leg and she fell to her knees, unable now to stand, her feet covered in blood. She glanced briefly at the damage but she knew she would not be able to stand on it again.
“Romney.” she gasped, “I am done for. All my offensive systems are offline. I cannot stand.”
“We will see about that.” he said, his voice barely masking the panic he was feeling.
On the lawn the two black Dependables advanced upon her and one reached out to her head and leaning on her face, slowly crushed the ocular lense that she used for her augmented vision. She screamed and fell back onto the lawn, the two black knights standing guard over her.
“Game, set and match I think, Miss Neaves.” said a familiar voice and she barely managed to turn her head to see Corrigan smiling above her, his face fixed in a wide grin.
“I think you may find others will come after me.” She said, feeling blood in her mouth. Corrigan roared with laughter.
“You really have no idea do you?” he laughed, “A new order begins today and sadly Miss Neaves you will not be around to see it. You were considered to be particularly troublesome you see, though I suspect that it was more luck than anything judging by your performance here this afternoon.” He walked away and Victoria tried to turn her head to follow him but she was unable to do so. “Take her to the pit.” she heard Corrigan call and she saw black armoured arms grip her and lift her off the ground. She tried to resist but her limbs did not seem to be working correctly.
“Boss.” said Romney in her head, “They can hear me but I am just letting you know. When I edited the command that Topping placed in your head I added another command that did not exist before. It’s a complete shutdown code. All perfectly painless.”
“You will kill me?” she asked.
“Of course not. It’s more like a suspended sleep.”
“I see. Why are you telling me this?”
“Because it may be preferable than being at this man’s mercy.” he said, “It’s an alternative. If you want me to use it just tell me so.”
“I will.” she said, pausing slightly. “Thank you.”
Romney did not answer her.
She felt as if she was carried for a long way but eventually she was thrown onto a cold stone floor, sliding uselessly across the ground, her wrecked frame and limbs making her skitter across the tiles as if she was something broken. She came to a stop and black metallic arms lifted her into an upright position and left her propped up. She moved her head as much as she could to take in her surroundings.
“My band of brothers wanted to be sure that you were accounted for.” Said Corrigan, standing on the other side of the room below a large bank of visual display screens. The two black knights stood on either side of him, and between her and him was a wide round hole which she could not see in, but it looked to be ten
feet or so in circumference. “Hence the pit.”
Victoria said nothing, trying to make sense of the screens behind her, but she could not. They seemed to show signs of conflict and explosions, but she could not make sense of it.
“Just keeping a close eye on the revolution.” said Corrigan. “I monitor everything very closely. In fact, there is a signal beaming directly to your home right now. I think your telephonic technology would only receive sound but here - I shall show you the whole thing. Such marvellous technology, don’t you agree? Our new masters certainly have some very interesting playthings!”
As he spoke a round sphere appeared in the air above her, and slowly it came into focus. She looked at the dirt streaked face in the viewer and did not recognise it at first.
“Victoria!” shouted the man in the screen, “Please answer! We need your help! There is…” There was a dull explosion on the screen which went out of focus for a second or so and then the man appeared again, though this time there were large clouds of smoke drifting behind him.
He turned to face the view screen face on, unaware he was being monitored, but Victoria gasped as he came into focus.
“It’s Vaillant.” she sobbed, “Randolph.”
“Horsell.” she heard him say, struggling to make out the words. “Help us. There are so many….” The Inspector turned and the view screen moved away from him a little, and Victoria saw an expanse of grass and trees, but then people fleeing. Across the woods rose a thing of steel and flame, three legs carrying it across the treetops, a red beam firing about it, incinerating the woods.”
“My God.” said Victoria, “What is that?” Yet already the picture began to fade, though sound was the last thing that went and as it did she heard a strange cry, like a rally almost, but again it made no sense to her.
“ULLLLLLLLLA!” It screamed, and then the strange yet unsettling cry faded.
“What was that?” she demanded of Corrigan, but he just smiled at her and pushed a button on a panel above him. Straight away a strange churning sound rose from the pit below.
“Time to go.” he said. “Here we have a pit that is very quickly being filled with cement. I am afraid you are going to be the main reason for it being filled. Take her please.”
The two black knights strode towards her. She could not move at all.
“Victoria.” said Romney in her mind, “Keep calm, boss.”
“Yes.” she said, feeling completely vulnerable as the two knights approached. Suddenly she felt Romney leave her, but she could not see him.
“Where are you?” she asked.
“Possession.” said Romney, “Every demon’s best friend.”
She watched as one black knight came to a sudden halt as Romney possessed the Dependable, taking control of the little humanity it had left in it that he could find. It raised its pulse cannon and fired at the other black knight at point blank range. The Dependable’s head exploded and it fell to the floor noisily, lying completely still on the stone.
Corrigan stared at the machine.
“I don’t know what you have done, Victoria.” he said, “But you are not going to escape this time.” He turned to face the remaining black knight that was already raising its pulse cannon towards him. “COMMAND: ICARUS.” he said and the second knight exploded, raining metal and organic material across the room. Corrigan smiled at her as she felt Romney fall back into her mind.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
“Barely.” he gasped. “I need time to recover. No more possessions for me.”
Corrigan approached her, grabbing at her smashed legs and began to drag her towards the pit.
“Romney.” she called.
“Victoria.” said the demon, “I have nothing left.”
He pulled her to the edge of the pit. She looked down to see that it was not especially deep. Perhaps no more than ten feet, but from chutes at the side concrete was already pouring into the mould.
“Goodbye, Miss Neaves.” said the Major and he viciously kicked her side, grinning darkly as he did so and pushing her sideways and down into the pit. She slid down the sheer walls of the hole but landed upright, splashing into the thick wet concrete that rose already to her waist. It was heavy and cloying, the smell of lime strong. She saw Corrigan glance at her once more over the edge of the pit and then he was gone.
“This is it then.” She asked, more a question than a statement.
“Never.” said Romney. “Trapped, yes. I can shut you down. It will be as if time is suspended.”
“What of the noises from the view screen and the “revolution” Corrigan referred to? What is going on? Have we been blind?”
“I think not.” said Romney. “All we need is for someone to find us.”
“Can’t you escape?” she said.
“And leave you?” he said. “Never.”
The concrete continued to pour down from above. She tried to move but found that she could not. She was completely trapped.
“Thank you.” she said. “Thank you for everything, Romney. Truly.”
“Don’t you dare start talking as if this is the end.” he said.
“Well it does look particularly grim.” she said, resisting the urge to panic as the cement now reached her chin. “Can’t you become corporeal or something? I know you have no power to possess, but surely you can escape?” Romney sighed.
“The pit is warded.” he said finally, “I did not want to panic you or think it was hopeless. But remember I said one of the knights in the labyrinth was running a second circle demon?”
“Yes.”
“Well, it has placed wards on this pit.”
“You can’t escape.” she said.
“No. I can’t.” he said, “I am out-classed.” he said despondently.
“Of course not.” She said, “You are never out-classed.”
The concrete seemed to be engulfing her more rapidly now, and was already nearing her shoulders, the rest of her ruined body already covered by the cement.
“Best be ready with that sleep command.” she said, “I don’t want to be conscious when this mortar reaches above my head.”
“It’s ready.” he almost whispered as she tipped her head back to give herself a few more seconds.
“Best do it now.” she said. “But promise me you will get me out of this pit one day. I don’t want this to be my tomb.”
“I promise.” he said and paused for a second. Smiled. “Jurium.” he said and she paused as the concrete began to pool around her face, her mouth. He was surprised, for it was impossible for her not to answer him straight away. The command was hard wired. Yet pause she did, but then she gave a tight smile, the concrete running across her lower lip.
“Lollipop.” she said finally, and Romney felt himself begin to weep.
“COMMAND: SPHINX” he said and instantly her eyes closed, her mouth shut.
The cement continued to fall upon her and then it slowly but surely engulfed her now unmoving broken body, filling the pit until nothing of her was visible, and the pit was filled and she was covered entirely.
It was a large volume of concrete and right now it was wet with the consistency of a very thick grey mud. It took several days for it to finally settle, but eventually, like all mortar, it set solid.
ALSO AVAILABLE
FROM MICHAEL WHITE
READ ON FOR THE FIRST THREE CHAPTERS OF “ANYONE”
ANYONE
Part One: The Theoretical Cat
Prologue: CDJ Electronics August 3rd 2007
“Blue or Red?” said the tall guy as he rose slightly from his chair to give a brief but firm handshake. It was always the question anyone asked a newcomer in any place of employment on Merseyside and it was always one I dreaded. Not because statistically speaking you always had a fifty per cent chance of getting it right but because in truth I had a one hundred per cent chance of getting it wrong. He had glanced at me; fifty-one going slightly grey and I had assessed him too; big guy, late twenties. O
bviously interested in football. It was a thing blokes always do when they first meet.
“Neither.” I mumbled in embarrassment. “Not really into football sorry.” This answer, although perfectly true, always brought colour to my face and a slight feeling of embarrassment tinged with the thought that by not supporting a local football team (and God help you if you revealed that you supported any team from outside Merseyside) you were letting the side down just a little bit. I had glanced down at the desk where we were sitting and amongst the scraps of crumpled paper, discarded pens and scribbled on notepads there was a coffee stained Everton mug and I could have taken the easy way out I suppose, though I rarely did. The truth will always find you and bite you on the arse.
The reaction of the man sitting facing me, his glasses balanced on his nose as he tipped back his chair (quite a feat for a chair on wheels I thought) was not however the same usual look of disbelief and disdain. He just raised his eye brow slightly and gave a small half grin that if I were to use one word to sum up how it looked then it would be, “mischief”.
“Are you gay?” He smiled and the inflection he used made me realise he wasn’t being homophobic. Not at all. He was actually helping me out of an awkward position on my first contact with anyone on my first day in a new job. I knew all this, and he knew that I now knew all of this and he did it all with a half-smile and one eyebrow. I was impressed.
“Don’t gay people like football either?” I smiled and his smile increased just a little more.
“Of course they do.” He replied. “It’s just that they all seem to support Arsenal.” I laughed at this and pointed at the Everton mug.
“I can name the 1966 cup final team though.” He looked at me doubtfully.
The Complete Adventures of Victoria Neaves & Romney Page 38
