The Secret Chapter

by Genevieve Cogman

  Indigo was still for a moment, like a cobra considering the best angle for its strike. ‘The basic technology isn’t the issue,’ she said, speaking slowly as if to a child. ‘There are only so many ways that one can create a transistor, or a vacuum tube, or all the other pieces that are used to make a computer or tablet or cell phone. When it comes to computer languages and programming, there’s plenty of parallel evolution across different worlds – just like spoken languages. Have you ever noticed how many worlds develop Windows?’

  ‘I never thought of it that way,’ Felix admitted.

  ‘Well, now you know,’ Indigo said. Again there was that note of condescension in her voice. ‘In my case, here, I have a variety of programs and hacking tools from different worlds. I’ll be able to find something which will work with this world’s computer systems, or which I can adapt. I know my job.’ Indigo glanced at Kai as she spoke, and there was something almost . . . conspiratorial about it.

  Her words to Felix did make sense – but was it really that easy to transfer technology across worlds? Irene recalled a Library seminar, a year or so back, that had said this simply wasn’t possible. Irene didn’t like mysteries – at least outside of detective novels.

  She glanced at Kai. He knew more about technology than Irene, so if there had been a flaw in Indigo’s argument, surely he’d have pointed it out. Only Irene had noticed his silent exchange with Indigo, how his eyes had flashed what looked almost like a warning at her. But why should Indigo’s skills provoke any reaction at all?

  ‘If there are werewolves and other supernatural creatures here, then it’s probably a Gamma world by the Library classification,’ she said, turning to more immediate problems. ‘By our standards, that means both magic and technology.’

  ‘Does magic appear in high-order worlds like this?’ Ernst asked. ‘I do not visit them often, but I had not thought to find it here. Will it be a problem?’

  ‘You can get magic in these environments, but it would be very highly organized magic,’ Irene said. ‘With laws and principles and so on. If there are other supernatural creatures here—’

  ‘Besides us,’ Tina interrupted cheerfully.

  Irene supposed Librarians counted as a sort of supernatural creature. ‘Yes, besides us – then they’d obey consistent rules. Like silver always burning werewolves and vampires being allergic to garlic . . . in high-order worlds, you could practically write a guide on how to identify local unnatural creatures.’

  ‘In any case, CENSOR’s hunting them,’ Indigo said. ‘That should keep them busy – and away from us.’

  ‘There are dragons in this world, by the way,’ Kai noted. ‘At least one, possibly more.’

  ‘How do you know?’ Felix demanded quickly.

  ‘It’s a . . . dragon thing.’ Kai’s lip curled at the term, but he spread his hands with a shrug. ‘I can’t tell where they are or how many they are. The fabric of the world sings with it.’

  ‘Do you agree with him?’ Jerome asked Indigo.

  Indigo raised her wrist. The thick silver cuff round it was still there, even though there was no longer a chain attached. ‘While this is on me, I’ve no way of telling.’

  ‘So you can’t do –’ Felix waved his hand – ‘dragon things?’

  ‘No,’ Indigo said, her words as sharp and brittle as volcanic glass. ‘I can’t do dragon things. However, I can do computer things – and that’s what you need at the moment.’

  ‘As long as these dragons aren’t in Vienna, they’re not our problem,’ Ernst said. Straight to the point, as usual. ‘So. On to Vienna.’

  ‘Oh no,’ Indigo said, looking around their new headquarters. ‘This will not do. It will not do at all.’

  Her eyes glittered with fury. Even if she wasn’t showing any of the usual signs of a dragon’s anger while in human form – her eyes weren’t gleaming red, her skin was unmarked by scales – her rage was still palpable. Tina showed no sign of recognizing danger on or off the road, but the other Fae had backed away as rapidly as was inhumanly possible (without seeming too visibly intimidated).

  Irene looked at the piles of boxed computer equipment on the shabby carpet. Power extension cords lay jumbled in disconnected patterns. A few battered desks had been pushed against walls. The rundown block had been described as having office space to rent on the billboard downstairs, but was empty of other tenants. Maybe that had been a miserable attempt to attract investment – if so, it had completely failed. Unsurprisingly, given that this was an industrial district on the outskirts of the city.

  ‘On the positive side,’ she said out loud, ‘we should be undisturbed. And our hotel rooms are just across the street. Indigo, forgive me if I’m being imperceptive, but are you complaining about our base or the equipment?’

  Indigo spun to face Irene, her hair floating out behind her like smoke. ‘As anyone could see if they bothered to look, I’m complaining about the equipment. This is a complete joke.’

  Irene forced herself to stand her ground. She’d faced angry dragons before, but it never became any easier. ‘What do you want, and what will it take to get it?’

  As Indigo paused to consider, Jerome fanned out his credit cards as if they were playing cards and sorted through them. ‘Is that your role in our team?’ he asked her. ‘Procurement – you get what we need?’

  ‘Procurement and organization – just let me know what you want,’ Irene said confidently. She had to get them to trust her somehow, so why not with this? Wishful thinking about locking the lot of them in a hotel room, while she and Kai got the job done, would have to be put on hold. She had to take control of this operation now, while the situation was still fluid and before anyone else could try to assert their authority. There was too much depending on it. ‘I suggest we get started, as we’re on a deadline.’ And the world that I care about, the reason I’m actually doing this, has only a day or two more than that deadline. At best.

  ‘I’m not averse to working as part of a team,’ Felix said. ‘I’ve done it before.’ He was perched on a desk, brooding like a raven. Irene still found it hard to be absolutely certain what he looked like, as her eyes always slid off him. No doubt he’d be impossible to pick out in an identification parade too. ‘I’m not even against working with Librarians or dragons. But I’m also prepared to show you the door, if I think you’re not contributing.’

  ‘That seems fair,’ Ernst rumbled. ‘I, too, am open-minded about cooperation with traditional enemies. But do not disappoint me. You would not like that.’

  Kai shrugged, as if he hadn’t vented about collaborating for an hour to Irene the night before. ‘I see no reason why we shouldn’t cooperate. If we meet again, we can always pretend we don’t know each other.’

  ‘That usually ends up with a gun duel at dawn, after a night trashing a casino then chasing each other across town,’ Jerome added.

  ‘That’s oddly specific,’ Irene said.

  ‘These things happen.’

  Indigo had been scribbling a list on a discarded notepad. ‘Here,’ she said, presenting it to Irene. ‘I need these items or their local equivalents. It’s going to cost, though. I can start putting this pile of junk together . . .’ She gestured at the boxed equipment. ‘But I need better. And the sooner I get it, the sooner I can get our faces off those official computer records.’

  Irene took the list and stared at it blankly, then passed it to Kai. ‘Right,’ she said. ‘And I have some suggestions about a possible division of labour . . .’

  Irene was a strong believer that if you could get people accustomed to obeying simple orders under the guise of suggestions, they’d then do what they were told later when in horrible danger. This theory wasn’t going to dazzle followers of Sun Tzu’s The Art of War any time soon, but the basic principle was sound. Still, would it work on this team, all of whom were experts in their own fields?

  A gratifying silence filled the room, as everyone waited for her to speak.

  ‘We have three immediat
e needs,’ she said. ‘We need information on the painting and its security; information on the city; and cash. Does that sound reasonable?’

  It was possible to guess at the team’s alliances from the way people were glancing at each other for signs of agreement or disapproval. Jerome, Tina and Felix were one axis; she and Kai were another. Ernst was unreadable and Indigo was wholly contemptuous.

  ‘So who should do what?’ Tina asked.

  Irene resisted the urge to sigh in relief at this sign of agreement. ‘I’m making some assumptions about people’s skills and knowledge here.’ Mostly because you haven’t actually told me what they are, she added silently. ‘I’d suggest that Felix surveys the Kunsthistorisches Museum. On the cash front, I was thinking Ernst and Jerome might arrange some financing, and possibly check out the local criminal underworld while they’re at it.’

  ‘You think I am expert in such things?’ Ernst asked. ‘You think I am the sort who simply walks into bar, and all local criminals wet themselves and hand over wallets?’

  ‘Nothing so crude,’ Irene said hastily. ‘But I do think that the two of you will be able to get the pulse of what’s going on.’

  ‘You’re not doing badly so far,’ Jerome said thoughtfully. He flashed a charming smile at her. ‘What do you plan to do yourself?’

  ‘I want to find out more about this world,’ Irene said firmly. ‘Did Mr Nemo say anything about werewolves, or that CENSOR organization?’ A general shaking of heads. ‘We’re operating in the dark here and I don’t want us to blow our cover. I’m used to researching this sort of thing, and doing it fast.’

  ‘And I’ll be setting up this pile of junk.’ Indigo prodded the nearest box with the toe of her boot. ‘I want Kai here to assist me. I need another pair of hands, and he has more idea of what he’s doing than the rest of you.’

  ‘Kai?’ Irene queried, surprised.

  Kai sighed. ‘It makes sense,’ he said.

  ‘And me?’ Tina asked.

  ‘I was thinking you might like to map out this Vienna,’ Irene said. Incomplete knowledge of a city could lead to nasty surprises during a fast getaway. ‘Unless you feel you’d be more use doing something else?’

  ‘No, that sounds good.’ Tina’s eyes had lit up. She flicked another piece of gum into her mouth. ‘I can work with this.’

  ‘You are a little silver-tongued charmer.’ Ernst prodded Irene squarely on the collarbone with one meaty finger. ‘Do not think I will indulge you, just because I like you. But for the moment you talk good sense.’

  ‘Too kind.’ Irene rubbed the spot where he’d poked her. If he ever punched her, she wouldn’t be getting up again.

  Maybe this was actually going to work.

  And once they were all busy . . . she could quietly check in with the Library. She had some very urgent questions to ask.

  The Austrian National Library was the biggest library in Austria (in most alternate worlds, at least). Situated in the middle of Vienna, in the former Imperial Palace, it was a glorious work of architecture. The inside was decorated with paintings, frescoes and mosaics which had been known to bring viewers to a standstill in admiration. More relevantly to a Librarian, it had a collection of manuscripts, incunabula and papyri.

  Practicality, though, had instead brought Irene to the University of Vienna’s library, where she was now sitting. Here she was anonymous, one among hundreds or even thousands of visitors taking advantage of the facilities. She’d been quite honest when she’d told the others that she wanted to make an assessment of this world – its history, its culture and its current dangers.

  But there had been one other thing she’d wanted to do first.

  It had only taken Irene a few minutes to find a back corridor where she could open a temporary passage to the Library. Once there, she’d sent a desperate email to Coppelia, to check the possible implications of what she was about to do. Mr Nemo might have sworn that they weren’t breaching the treaty, but Irene was profoundly uneasy about the whole business.

  As to what she was going to do if this theft turned out to be politically inadvisable . . . Well, she’d have to improvise.

  Outside, the wind whistled along the wide streets. Winter held Vienna in its grip, and while it wasn’t actually snowing, it certainly wasn’t warm. Grey cloud filled the sky and people walked with their collars turned up and their heads down, eager to escape the cutting edge of the wind.

  And everywhere, the cameras. That had been an unpleasant surprise. With determined optimism, Irene reassured herself that if Indigo was as good as she claimed, they wouldn’t be an issue.

  If. If. If.

  Inside the library’s reading room there was warmth and the silence of shared study. Students and the general public mingled along the long, dark oak tables which stretched the length of the room. Each person had their own nest of papers, laptop or tablet. Everyone was hunched over their work, as if afraid that someone was about to point an accusing finger and blame them for something. There was a sense of nervousness in the air which even Irene, a newcomer, could perceive.

  She had found a corner and was combining web searches on a newly purchased laptop with paper-based research – leafing through the sheaf of newspapers and magazines she’d also acquired. Even if web searches were monitored, her computer was entirely anonymous.

  One of her main discoveries was the high number of supernatural beings here, which was going to be a problem. The CENSOR organization had adopted a number of aggressive practices when hunting said supernatural beings, which might also be a problem. And The Raft of the Medusa was about sixteen by twenty-three feet, which was definitely going to be a problem when it came to stealing it. That was rather larger than the average book.

  She idly flipped through online photos of the Kunsthistorisches Museum, trying to get a feel for the place. It was built on a large and luxurious scale, displaying the Habsburg dynasty’s power just as much as their art collection. It was also well-equipped in terms of electronic security. This was also not one of those places which skimped on guards because it had electronics.

  Wait. In that stock photo of a gold sculpture by Cellini . . . was that a dragon in the background?

  Irene leaned closer, her nose nearly touching the screen as she squinted at the expanded view. Yes, even though he was in human form, he was unmistakeably a dragon. The lines of the face, the posture, the way he held himself. Here in Vienna, in the same building as their target, only a few years ago, going by the date . . .

  There was a whisper of air behind her, and a cylindrical metal object poked into her back. It was the third time this week.

  ‘Don’t make a disturbance,’ Felix said, his voice quiet enough that it was barely a purr in her ear. ‘I’d like a word with you, in private.’

  ‘This isn’t very private,’ Irene replied equally softly. This was bad. She didn’t even know what she’d done to trigger this reaction.

  ‘It will be, in a moment. Pack up your stuff. Keep it nice and casual. We’re going to walk to the door over there and have a little talk, once we’re sure nobody else is listening in.’ He didn’t add any further warning; the steady firmness of the gun muzzle in her back was quite enough.

  Irene shoved her things into her bag. The Language would be no help here: she’d never be able to finish a word, let alone a sentence, before Felix could fire. A crawling unease was forming in her stomach. Just how badly had she underestimated the situation?

  Nobody looked up as they passed through a side door labelled Staff Only into the unlit corridor beyond. Here, Ernst emerged from the shadows like a looming monolith. His hand clamped around her throat before she could even squeak, and he hoisted her off her feet, pinning her against the wall. Felix shut the door tidily behind them.

  ‘So,’ Ernst grunted. ‘All those nice speeches, and you turn traitor before we even reach suppertime. I am disappointed in you.’

  Irene struggled desperately for breath. She held up her hands, trying to demonstrate peace, h
armlessness, anything that might persuade him to release her.

  ‘Careful,’ Felix said. ‘She’s probably trying to use that special language of theirs.’

  ‘It is not her language I’m worried about. It is her silver tongue. If we let her speak, she will no doubt try to persuade us of her innocence.’

  Spots flashed in front of Irene’s eyes and she kicked at Ernst, but she didn’t have the leverage or reach to do any damage.

  ‘I don’t know,’ Felix mused thoughtfully. ‘Perhaps she might have something useful to say.’

  ‘Only one way to find out,’ Ernst said. He slackened his grip, letting Irene slide down the wall till her toes touched the ground and she could – just – support herself. His fingers remained clenched around her throat, a warning.

  Irene sucked in gulps of air. ‘Not a traitor,’ she gasped, her voice raw.

  ‘This is good,’ Ernst said approvingly. ‘I like it even better if you can prove it.’

  Irene rolled her eyes towards Felix. She guessed he would ask the awkward questions while Ernst applied the physical threats. She had miscalculated somewhere, and she needed to work out how, before it was too late. ‘Why say I’m a traitor?’ she croaked.

  ‘Because the moment you get away, you go sneaking off to your Library for further orders.’ Felix’s tone was light and playful, but his eyes were cold. ‘Were you arranging to steal the picture with your other friends? Or were you making a deal to sell us out?’

  Oh damn. He must have been following her from the moment they’d left their base.

  Irene looked from Ernst to Felix again. ‘All right,’ she said. ‘I admit I checked in with the Library. I’m not going to deny it.’ This was particularly annoying, as she could have told them beforehand and avoided all this. ‘I’m under orders to get a certain book from Mr Nemo. That’s why I agreed to steal the painting. But I had to confirm it didn’t infringe the truce—’