The Vesuvius Club

by Mark Gatiss

  I kept well-hidden and watched as Unmann quit the chamber through the iron door. I glanced down at the hapless hostages and then over towards the curious hut. Unarmed, I had little chance of blustering my way into it and ending Venus’s deranged plans. But if I could get to Bowler there was just a chance I could convince him of his folly.

  And, of course, there was Charlie Jackpot who seemed to require rescuing six times before breakfast.

  I sped down the spiral staircase, round and round and round until I emerged, giddy and breathless in the shadowy perimeter of the great cavern. I looked about cautiously then took my chance, sprinting over to the central machine and clambering as silently as possible up on to the dais where the brass globe stood. I spread my hands over the glass panel and peered inside. Charlie caught my eye at once and reached up to bang his fist against the glass. I stayed him with a hushing finger to my mouth then sank down and attempted to hide myself in the lee-side of the object.

  I looked quickly about but no one seemed to have detected me. Making an instant examination of the bolts that held the device together, I knew I’d require some kind of tool if I were to release Charlie.

  I got to my feet once again, tapped on the glass panel and gestured to Charlie to have patience. Then, I slipped away down the steps and looked about for some method of opening the sphere.

  A burly helmeted fellow with a ’kerchief wrapped around his mouth and a rifle around his shoulder was the closest person to me. In a broad brown belt around his ample waist I spotted tools including spanner, screwdrivers and knives.

  Noiselessly, I crept up behind him, pulled the spanner from his belt and cracked him over the back of the neck with it. If I had expected him merely to sink to the floor like any reasonable thug I was disappointed. I had forgotten about their immunity to pain. I tried again, even harder but the spanner merely thwacked over his bull-like neck as he turned sluggishly toward me. I really didn’t have time for this. I dropped to the floor, pulled a knife from his belt and, sliced away his hamstrings in one graceful roll. He dropped like a stone. Grabbing the belt, I dragged him over towards the sphere and then planted the knife into his chest as though staking a vampire.

  That was the end of him. Sometimes one must be direct.

  Relieved, I picked up the spanner and turned towards the sphere.

  Bowler was waiting for me.

  I raised the spanner above my head and the shocked undertaker ducked. At once, I locked my arm around his throat and dragged him back towards the hissing machines.

  ‘You’re mad!’ he cried. ‘I will be missed!’

  ‘I’ll smash your bloody head to pulp if you don’t listen to me and keep quiet!’ I ordered.

  Cowed, he held up his hands to the level of his ears and shrugged. ‘You’re too late anyway, Box. The ceremony will begin in minutes.’

  I tossed the spanner to him and poked the end of the guard’s knife into his nose. ‘Unscrew that thing and get the boy out of there.’

  Bowler got to his feet and began to unscrew the glass panel slowly.

  ‘Hurry! Or you’ll be seeing the inside of a pine box damned sooner than me.’ I jabbed the knife toward him and his actions grew noticeably quicker. ‘Now listen to me, Bowler. Venus has lied to you. This bomb will start a chain-reaction that will cause all of Italy’s volcanoes to erupt. It will destroy the entire country.’

  ‘Ha!’ Bowler unscrewed another nut and tossed it to the floor. ‘He would never –’

  ‘Wouldn’t he? Now tell me what your evacuation plans are.’

  Bowler shrugged. ‘At the climax of the ceremony, the process will begin and we will be ferried back to the surface.’

  I shook my head. ‘In what? Venus’s trained zombies have been making short work of the lifts, Bowler. There’s no way out for anybody. He wants you all to remain here with him. For his ultimate revenge.’

  Bowler took this in and then shook his perspiring head. ‘Why should I believe you, Box? Venus is an honourable…person, terribly wronged. He will lead us out of the fire and towards glory!’

  The panel was off and Bowler lifted it carefully to the floor. Keeping him covered I looked down into the device.

  ‘Charlie!’

  Looking tired and ill, the youth began to clamber out of the sphere. ‘Put it on my tab, Mr Box. Thanks. What do we do now?’

  I swung back towards Bowler. ‘Now we’re going to pay a little call.’

  It took only moments for Charlie to change into the dead guard’s clothes and to disguise his face with the sweaty ’kerchief. I tossed him the rifle.

  ‘Lead the way, Mr Bowler. I’m your prisoner.’

  I raised my hands and encouraged Charlie to make a good show of threatening me with the rifle. With a deep sigh, Bowler led the way and the three of us advanced through the steaming mess of pipes and machines towards the spiral staircase.

  Bowler took out his watch from the pocket of his oil-stained coat. ‘This is senseless. The countdown will have begun. You are too late.’

  ‘Shut up and move.’

  We ascended rapidly and approached the metal landing on which the observation room stood. A solitary guard stood outside the door. Bowler gestured to me and the guard stepped aside. The undertaker knocked and opened the door. Charlie pushed me through in a show of aggression and suddenly we were inside.

  The chamber was rather curiously like a signal-box on some suburban railway line. The window was fogged so that the only light in the dim little room came from the multitude of panels and switches that covered the far wall. Sitting in a swivelling red chair was Venus, resplendent in the scarlet robes he had adopted in the Vesuvius Club for that little ‘rehearsal’ I had witnessed.

  His delicate white hands were busy at the controls and he glanced over at us absently. ‘So, Bowler! You have brought us a little present. It seems my dear Cretaceous was not able to finish you off, Signor Box.’

  ‘He very nearly poached me,’ I said, taking the rifle from Charlie and advancing on him. ‘But I’m a resourceful fellow. As you can see.’

  Venus’s face fell. ‘You are too late. The –’

  ‘Yes, yes, the countdown has started. I know. But you can stop it from here. Very carefully but very quickly.’

  ‘Or what?’ hissed Venus. ‘You think I fear death? I embrace it! It is my destiny!’

  I looked at Bowler. ‘You see, man? He’s utterly deranged. He has no intention that any of you should leave the volcano.’

  Bowler gave a strained laugh. ‘You’re pathetic! Do you really think that…’ He tailed off and his gaze became fixed on Venus who had a strange, messianic smile on his fine features. ‘Is…is this true?’

  Venus threw back his head and laughed. ‘It will be a glorious end, Signor Bowler. We shall take all of Italy with us!’

  Bowler’s hand flew to his mouth. ‘Oh my God!’

  He raced towards the door. Charlie caught him. ‘Oi! You’re going nowhere, mate.’

  Charlie hauled him back into the room. Bowler’s chin was trembling. ‘But we’ve got to get out of here!’

  ‘We shall stay,’ I commanded. ‘And stop the countdown. All of Italy is at stake. Mr Morraine, will you oblige?’

  For answer, Venus merely folded his arms.

  ‘Then if you will not, I shall!’ cried Bowler. ‘You cannot be allowed to destroy us all.’

  So saying he dashed across the cabin and began to wrench wires from the machinery. With a roar of rage, Venus was upon him, pummelling Bowler’s face and chest with surprising force. I wasted no more time and shot at the flashing scarlet form. The first bullet hit Venus in the arm and he staggered back. The second tore through the fabric of his robes and bit into the wall.

  Clutching his injured flesh, Venus powered past me and, knocking Charlie to the floor, flung open the door and was gone.

  ‘Quickly!’ called Bowler, pulling more of the complicated mass of wiring. ‘The device. If he reaches it, he could still set it off!’

  I neede
d no further encouragement.

  ‘Come on, Charlie!’ I urged and we raced from the hut. Charlie took the rifle and shot the helmeted guard dead without breaking his stride. I leant over the staircase and could see Venus’s slim figure flitting through the steam-shrouded pipes towards the sphere. I grabbed the rifle from Charlie, rested it on the iron banister and loosed off a volley of shots.

  Venus emerged from the steam with a large group of his opium-sodden drones. He pointed up at us.

  ‘Kill them!’ he howled. ‘Kill them!’

  With their curious, sluggish movements, the helmeted fiends began to fire back at us. Charlie picked up the rifle from the dead guard and we careered down the spiral staircase at a fearsome pace, dodging bullets and responding in kind.

  ‘We have to stop him getting to the bomb!’ I cried as we reached the base of the steps. We ran in a frenzy across the floor of the chamber until we reached the brass sphere. Venus was nowhere to be seen.

  ‘Mr Box!’ gasped Charlie. ‘Look!’

  I noticed in that moment that the glass panel was no longer where Bowler had left it. It was being screwed back into place from within the sphere. His slender frame squashed visibly, Venus lay crouched inside, grinning madly.

  He raised his hand and smiled. The crazy fool was waving at us.

  Then there came a strange ratcheting sound and the sphere rolled forward like a billiard ball, vanishing into the great bronze pipe.

  Despite the noise and the heat and approaching thugs it felt suddenly as if a great hush had descended.

  ‘We’ve failed,’ I said quietly.

  XXI

  ASCENT TO PERIL

  CHARLIE grabbed me by the shoulder. ‘We’re not beaten yet, sir! The fella in the hut knows where that pipe leads. There must be some way to stop the bomb.’

  I nodded quickly. ‘You’re right.’

  We clattered back up the spiral staircase, picking off the last few zombies lumbering towards us as we did so, and threw open the door of the observation room. Bowler was still there, poring over reams of documents and plans.

  ‘Betrayed!’ he groaned, hammering his fist at his forehead. His hair hung in a great black slap over his pale forehead. ‘Betrayed at every turn! To think I could have trusted that monster!’

  I pulled him round. ‘There’s still time to make amends, Bowler. The bomb has been launched. Where is it heading?’

  He shook his head mournfully. ‘Into the belly of the volcano. There is a weakness in the crust. The bomb will blast it away and the magma will erupt!’

  ‘How do we stop it?’

  The undertaker put his head in his hands. ‘We cannot. We shall die in the flames. Die at any moment!’

  Not what we wanted to hear, naturally.

  ‘There must be a way!’ I thundered, grabbing him by the lapels. ‘Think, man. You know everything about this blasted scheme!’

  ‘Yes! And we were clever! We allowed for every eventuality.’

  Charlie came over and sifted through the blueprints. ‘What sort of eventuality? What could go wrong?’

  I nodded furiously. ‘You’re right, Charlie. We will sabotage one of the fail-safes.’

  Bowler looked at me as if I were mad and then smiled. ‘There…there may be something in what you say. There is a junction. I knew it was dangerous but the rock-formation made it unavoidable. It’s where the steam shaft crosses the bond pipe. The two chutes join for a moment and then continue on their way.’

  ‘And is there any way of closing off the junction?’

  Bowler dashed to the wall where a screen of some kind indicated where the bomb had got to.

  ‘Yes! If I repair some of the damage I managed to inflict, I can control it from here.’

  He sucked at his knuckles anxiously. ‘The bomb has reached this level.’ He jabbed his finger at the curious display. ‘The junction is some way below.’

  ‘Then there’s still time.’

  Bowler was practically gnawing his fist. ‘But if we close the pipe and trap Venus there, the bomb will still explode. It will be close enough to cause an eruption!’

  It was my turn to ponder. I looked quickly at the plans and then at the display. ‘And if you shut off the steam-pipe, what then?’

  He shrugged. ‘The steam-pressure will build.’

  ‘Dangerously?’

  ‘Of course. The system is designed as a safety valve. If the pressure is not released…’

  ‘That’s it!’ I cried delightedly. ‘Bowler, close the hatch on the steam pipe.’

  ‘But why?’

  ‘Just do it!’

  He dragged Venus’s great leather chair to the console and began furiously punching at buttons and pulling levers. Then he dropped beneath the display and began frantically rewiring the machinery. For a few anxious minutes he fiddled and pulled at the complex copper circuitry, swore several oaths and then, with a great cry, sat back. A coloured disc slid into place on the display before us.

  ‘It’s done! The steam pressure is building.’

  ‘Now, tell me when Venus and the bomb are almost at the junction. How accurate is this thing?’

  ‘Pretty accurate.’ He rubbed his hands and licked his dry lips. ‘Level Eight. Achieved. Level Nine…’

  ‘He must be boiling alive inside that thing,’ said Charlie.

  I nodded. ‘Just what he’d intended for you. He doesn’t give a damn now. He must see this thing through.’

  ‘Achieved,’ continued Bowler. ‘Level Ten…approaching junction…’

  ‘Prepare to open the hatch!’ I cried.

  ‘Level Ten achieved!’

  ‘Open it!’

  The disc slid out of its housing, revealing blank space. ‘It’s done,’ said Bowler simply.

  ‘What is?’ queried Charlie.

  I held up my hand. ‘Wait, wait…’

  From deep beneath us we heard it. A deep, booming, clattering roar. The floor of the room began to shake with massive violence.

  ‘What…exactly have we done?’ said Charlie.

  ‘Projected a huge body of steam at the sphere, Charlie! If I’m right then –’

  ‘Then it should be forced right back up!’

  ‘Exactly!’

  The three of us stood there in an agony of suspense as the hut and the great chamber itself trembled. I glanced over at Charlie. His face was white and he had sunk his teeth into his lower lip. Bowler was smoothing his hair down in a repeated gesture as though comforting himself. If, if we got out of this insane situation, how were we to escape? There would be seven of us all told, including the captives. My thoughts raced back to the lift-shafts and the men who had sabotaged them. Of course! The chains had been severed but the iron rungs set into the wall must survive. It would be a hell of a climb but it was surely our only chance.

  I was yanked back to the present when a tremendous, shattering roar came from the chamber beyond. Charlie, Bowler and I raced out of the hut and looked down. The great brass sphere had come tearing back through the bronze pipe, shredding its end in the process and slamming into the walls of the cavern. Its impact fractured a number of the huge iron pipes and steam began to flood the chamber.

  Images are removed here

  ‘We did it!’ cried Charlie.

  ‘Yes – we’ve brought the bomb back. To us!’

  The undertaker looked worried. ‘The bomb won’t go off now, the steam pressure is still building. The pipes are ruptured.’

  ‘But there’ll be no eruption?’

  ‘Not as Venus planned, no. But the explosion could still damage the magma shell higher up. There’s no time to be lost!’

  ‘First we have to free Mrs Knight and the professors.’

  ‘What?’ wailed Bowler. ‘To hell with them! We have to get out!’

  I trained the rifle on the reluctant mortician. ‘You have much to make up for, Mr Bowler. I suggest you get down those stairs and help them. Forthwith.’

  With a scowl, he ran pell-mell down the stairway, Charli
e and I close behind. As we picked our way across the floor, I glanced over to where the sphere lay embedded in the wall, crushed like a spoiled fruit, the glass panel shattered. Hanging half out of it was the body of Venus; his scarlet robes plastered to his body like a shroud, his once-beautiful face set in a crazed rictus grin, the sinews exposed red raw by the heat that had boiled away his flesh. His eyeballs goggled at us in a macabre, steam-palled death-stare.

  ‘Come on!’ I urged. I turned my attentions to the captives in their chairs and was at once confronted by the not-too-dissimilar features of the unfortunate Mrs Knight.

  ‘Are you all right?’ I enquired. She merely groaned in reply. Charlie was already hacking away her restraints. Despite their weakness, Verdigris and Sash were able to make some sense of the situation and once free pulled themselves up the gantries towards the next level. I helped support Mrs Knight, who had been more recently stupefied and Charlie and Bowler carried the crippled Quibble between them. The old man groaned pitiably as we clattered up the steps towards the next level.

  Of a sudden, there came an ear-splitting crack and the floor of the cavern began to shift and undulate. With a horrible, belching roar, molten lava began, inexorably, to force its way through the gap.

  We needed no more encouragement to tumble through the door and bolt it behind us, falling gasping into the corridor beyond.

  ‘The lifts!’ I yelled. ‘Quickly!’

  Charlie let out an exhausted sigh, then all seven of us staggered off up the corridor, the way we had been brought what seemed like half a lifetime ago. We reached the lift doors, closed now, and Charlie and Bowler lowered Quibble to the floor. I stabbed at the controls but the blasted things refused to open. Mrs Knight appeared to have fallen into a faint.

  ‘Professor Sash!’ I barked. ‘Are you fit enough to help open these doors? Verdigris – you too? Charlie, Bowler, give them both a hand. I’ll see to our invalids.’