‘It is found to be relaxing. Also very good for the lungs.’ (Or so the Victorians believed.) ‘Would you care to try one?’
King Arthur waved the smoke away from his face. ‘I thank thee but no.’ He looked at the coffee, King Victor smoking and lastly the train carriage. ‘With all these wonders of thy modern world it is strange for me to think that thou would need my help to defeat thine enemies. How dost thee imagine that I may be of help?’
‘After lunch I will have the maps brought in and I’ll brief you on the situation, then we can see where your expertise can assist us in the war effort,’ King Victor told him. At that moment Colonel Frost caught Victor’s eye and beckoned him over. ‘Would you excuse me? It appears there are some things I must attend to.’ He left them to join the colonel at the end of the carriage.
Arthur turned to Adele, ‘Brief me on the situation?’ he asked, with a puzzled expression.
‘Tell you all about it,’ she translated.
‘Ah, I see. In the meantime, perhaps thou couldst tell me more of this strange, new world I find myself in?’
***
Once lunch had been consumed Victor called for the maps of the Lake District to be laid out, and assisted by Colonel Frost, he talked Arthur through all the strengths and dispositions of his troops and their enemy’s. Arthur seemed fascinated by the detail of the maps. (Presumably in his day they just consisted of a squiggly coastline, a castle and “Here Be Dragons”.)
Victor turned to Arthur and asked him, ‘So King Arthur-’
‘Please, call me Arthur,’ he interrupted.
‘Very well then, Arthur it is. And please call me Victor. So Arthur, how do you think you might help us defeat the Elves?’
‘Why, it is clear, I shall summon sufficient forces to overwhelm our enemy,’ he said, simply.
King Victor grimaced. ‘But as I’ve already explained, our forces are at their lowest ebb in years due to the reinforcement of our overseas posts. With that and the losses we have incurred we simply do not have enough men and equipment to defeat the Elves.’
‘Ah Victor, that is why thou summoned me from my long slumber, was it not? Thou may not have the forces at thy disposal … but I do.’
Everyone around the table was silent as they looked at Arthur. He smiled back at them, confident in his ability to save Albion. ‘Thou didst not summon me back to lose, didst thee?’
‘But what forces do you have to command that we’re not aware of?’ questioned Victor.
Let it be dragons, thought Adele, excitedly. Please let it be dragons.
‘If it pleases thee, Victor, I wouldst prefer to keep my own counsel regarding them until such time as I summon them forth. I have heard thy people use the words, “Need To Know”. That strikes me as an apt way to control the secrecy of my plans. The less chance the Elves have to learn of our stratagems, the better chance we will have of an unopposed victory.’
‘Very well,’ Victor agreed, reluctantly. ‘Is there anything you can tell us?’
‘Yes, I shall have need of a horse. An army horse that has been in war or one that has been trained to stand fast amongst the noise and frights of battle. With such a horse I can lead my forces to victory.’
‘And you’re sure you can win?’
‘I have Excalibur,’ Arthur patted the hilt of the sword hanging at his waist. ‘When I carry Excalibur into battle in a just cause, I am invincible.’
‘But I thought you lost your final battle against Mordred?’ asked Victor.
‘No, actually I didst win that battle, but at a terrible cost. Most of the knights on both sides were killed. Such a waste of men. A dreadful slaughter and of course, it cost me my life.’
There was a long pause as no one wanted to pick up that subject. Finally King Victor said, ‘A battle-hardened horse, you say? Next time we stop to pick up coal and water I’ll have the telegraphist send a message ahead to Kendal. It should be waiting for you when we get there. Now, is there anything else you need?’
‘If we have finished with the planning of war for now, I would like to speak to Morgan le Fay, alone, please. I have a few questions about what happened after I left this mortal realm.’
‘Of course, I’ll arrange that for you. Eloise my dear, would you see to that?’
‘Of course, Your Majesty, at once.’
***
Sometime later as evening drew on, Adele was returning to the carriage she had been allocated. She had been to see Won Lungh who had been put in with the rest of the servants. As she had to spend the evening with King Victor and the others she just wanted to make sure he was being looked after.
Making her way along the corridor she saw Arthur standing there, just staring out of the window watching the countryside pass by. She approached him and waited quietly until he realised she was there.
‘Good evening, Melina.’
She curtsied. ‘Good evening sire. How did your meeting with Morgan le Fay go?’
He grimaced. ‘Not well. I didst think that it might be good to talk with someone from my own time but alas, she still has a burning hatred for me. She’s hated me ever since I was born, nay, before that, ever since I was conceived.’
‘Even after all these years?’
He nodded. ‘Families, eh? It’s all my father’s fault, of course, Uther Pendragon. A right bastard according to Merlin. He became enamoured of the Earl of Kernow’s wife, Ygraine, so he didst kill the Earl in combat and then took his wife, making her pregnant. She was my mother. Morgan was Ygraine’s first child, she was there when it happened and saw it all. So, as I was the result of that unholy coupling, she determined to hate me personally for the offence against her family.
‘Of course Merlin couldn’t let this scandal come out, it wouldst have destroyed everything he was trying to build. That’s why he didst take me away and gave me to Sir Ector to raise as his own.
‘Morgan though didst plot my ruination. Even going so far as to trick me into her bed to conceive a son by me, so she couldst raise him purely to bring about my downfall. At which she succeeded. I hadst hoped that the passage of time wouldst have mellowed her but she doth still hate me with a passion.’
‘Perhaps she is afraid of you,’ suggested Adele.
‘Afraid of me? What cause wouldst she have to fear me?’
‘Merlin’s curse. While you were away she could tell herself that you had gone forever and nothing could be done to break it. But what if you came back, her sworn enemy? The only way to break the curse is for you to forgive her. What if you didn’t? No one would blame you, she was responsible for your death, after all. As far as she is concerned the worst thing that could happen is if you refuse to forgive her, and she’s afraid that, given your history together, that is exactly what will happen and you’ll condemn her to eternity here on Earth. Don’t you see? She’s rejecting you before you can reject her.’
‘But why?’
‘She may be a powerful witch and hundreds of years old but underneath all that she is still a woman and she has her pride.’
Arthur looked at her for a moment without speaking and the hard expression left his face. ‘I chose thee wisely as Merlin’s replacement. Thy counsel is just as sound as his ever was. I shall think on what thou hast said.’
She curtsied and said, ‘Your Majesty honours me.’
‘Tell me, Melina, dost thou have a man, a husband?’
‘Yes I do, his name is Rufus Cobb. Not a husband yet but only the other day he asked me to marry him.’ She flashed her engagement ring.
‘Is he a good man, dost he treat you well? Is he brave?’
‘He treats me very well, thank you, sire. As for brave, in fact he is one of the men whose mission it is to close the portal.’
‘He must indeed then be a man of undoubted courage. It is a heavy burden he carries, the safety of all Briton.’
‘Oh, he has been called upon to save more than just Briton in his time. In fact none of us would be here now, if it were not for him, even you.�
��
‘I wouldst meet this man at the end of his adventure, and hear his tale. It wouldst seem that he deserves our thanks ... and thy hand in marriage.’
Just then one of the footmen approached and informed them that dinner was about to be served.
‘Come, oh wise one,’ Arthur said to Adele, with a smile. ‘Let us away to our evening repast. All this talk maketh me hungry.’
Through the Looking Glass
The Pegasus dropped off Admiral Collins in a field outside Kendal and then joined the fleet hovering above the town, waiting for the signal to proceed.
Cobb and Jim and the marines waited patiently on the bridge. ‘What are we waiting for?’ asked Cobb, nervously.
‘We’re waiting for the artillery bombardment to start at 2300,’ Jim told him.
‘What time’s that?’
‘I’ve no idea ... my watch only goes up to 12,’ he joked. ‘Calm down, Cobb. You’ll see that once we go into action you’ll relax. It’s the waiting that’s the worst. Once we’re on the ground - oh, here we go.’ A flare arced across the night sky. Almost immediately the boom of artillery pieces could be heard as they opened fire.
‘Forward,’ ordered Capt. Somersby.
‘Time to get ready,’ Jim told Cobb and took him through to the rear cabin. ‘Right, strap your holster on. Then take a couple of grenades out of your pack and put them in your jacket side pockets. Put a few packs of spare rounds in them as well. Good, now remove the Winchester from the pack and from now on, wherever you go, that goes with you.’
‘Got it.’
‘Bring your pack and join us on the bridge,’ Lt. North instructed them.
The Pegasus crewmen were sent back to the rear cabin as the insertion team assembled on the bridge. Only the captain and the helmsman remained.
Cobb and the others watched as the night sky lit up with the blast of artillery fire. The lights reflected on the undersides of the airships as the armada advanced over Albion front lines. Jim had counted them at Chatham as they all took off and if they had all made it to Kendal then there were twenty-five not counting the Pegasus. Being as it was the Lake District the night as usual was cloudy, which would help them to conceal them from the ground.
Capt. Somersby told them, ‘We will be taking a slightly longer route to Grasmere as flying there directly would take us over Ambleside and that is the most heavily defended against air attack. We’ll follow those two airships ahead of us, they will provide cover and hopefully draw any fire.’
‘Well, let’s hope the Elves know that,’ said Harlequin who had appeared unnoticed at the rear of the bridge.
‘Who the devil ...?’ said Somersby as he reached for his pistol and the marines pointed their rifles.
‘It’s all right, it’s all right,’ Cobb assured them. ‘Put down your weapons, he’s on our side. Believe it or not.’
‘But how did he get on board?’ asked Somersby.
‘Erm ... he can appear and disappear at will. Look, it’s a long story and we don’t have time for it right now. You’ll just have to take my word that he’s on our side and can be trust- ... well, he’s on our side anyway.’
Cobb could see that the military weren’t happy about this new member of the team but as Cobb was the whole reason behind the mission, they couldn’t really disagree with him. Besides, as Cobb explained, he wasn’t actually going to go on the mission with them, just wave them off.
‘You’re cutting it a bit fine, aren’t you?’ Cobb admonished Harlequin.
‘You know me, I like to make a dramatic entrance.’
‘Well, just watch yourself with these guys or you’ll make a dramatic exit, right out the cabin door,’ cautioned Jim.
Harlequin glanced at Jim but said nothing.
The airships headed east from Kendal across Lake Windermere and then on until they crossed Coniston Water at which point they turned and headed north to Grasmere. From their vantage point so high above the ground they could see quite a way in every direction. The night sky lit up with the flashes of the artillery guns and the plasma cannon blasts, along with the explosions caused by bombs dropped from airships, all throughout the Lake District.
Several shots were fired directly at their little party from plasma cannons stationed on the fells so Captain Somersby took the Pegasus up higher so she was shielded from the ground by the other two airships.
‘Now then,’ Somersby spoke to the team, ‘When we reach Grasmere we’ll find a nice, flat, unoccupied piece of ground to drop you off. We won’t land; we won’t even put the ladder down, so you’ll have to jump. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure the wheel beneath us is actually touching the ground before I order you to disembark. Once you’re all out the door we’ll lift off.’ He looked at Harlequin, ‘You in the funny outfit, will you be returning with us or are you going out the door with them?’
‘I’m going out the door with them so don’t worry about me, I’ll make my own way back, thank you.’
‘As you wish.’
The rest of the journey was conducted in quiet tones, the marines muttering to each other as they checked everyone’s backpack and equipment. Jim went off for a final smoke in the engine room and when he came back he strapped on his pack and was ready to go. He noticed that one of the marines didn’t have a pack and carried the bomb on his back instead.
‘We’re coming up on Grasmere, you can see it off to your right,’ Somersby informed them. Everyone get ready to go. We aim to touch down just past the village.’
The Pegasus dropped down from between its two bodyguards until it was weaving between the two peaks on either side as it flew down the valley. The helmsman followed the road leading out of Grasmere until Somersby at the front window called out to him and pointed to an open field at the side of the road.
As the helmsman aimed the airship at the field, Somersby slid back the bridge door and beckoned everyone forward. He gave them a thumbs up. He waited to see that everyone responded with their own raised thumb before he stood by the open door.
As the airship touched the ground the helmsman throttled back. It bounced once and then slowly rolled forward. Somersby patted each of them on the back in turn as the signal for them to jump. Harlequin was the last one out of the door and Somersby slid it shut. Without waiting for orders the helmsman increased speed and lifted off into the air.
Capt. Somersby watched them as long as he could through the window. He said to his helmsman, ‘Do you think they have a chance of pulling this off?’
‘Not a hope, sir, they’re all dead men.’
Somersby reluctantly nodded his agreement and stared gloomily out of the front window.
But unfortunately the helmsman spoke too soon.
Silently, as the insertion team did last minute equipment checks (tightening straps, jumping up and down to see if anything rattled) and weapon checks, they all watched the Pegasus rise into the sky, their last contact with their own kind. From now on they would be in enemy territory.
Nobody saw it coming. It can’t have been aimed at the Pegasus as it hit her just as she rose above the nearest peak but a plasma bolt came from nowhere and hit the gondola, smashing it. The steam engine exploded scattering men and pieces of gondola all over the peak. The balloon part of the Pegasus caught fire and the last they saw of her was disappearing behind the peak as she went down in flames.
‘Oh, that’s a bad omen,’ said Harlequin.
‘We should go help them,’ said Cobb.
‘They’re beyond our help,’ Jim told him.
‘You don’t know that, they might just be injured.’
‘Cobb,’ said Jim, gently, ‘you have to learn that you can’t save everyone. Some of us may die on this mission but the rest will have to keep on moving forwards, there’ll be no time to grieve. Besides, we have our own problems. Everyone around will know we’re here and there are probably Elf patrols on their way here right now. We need you to jump us to the other side before it’s too late.’
Cobb curs
ed under his breath but finally had to accept that Jim was correct. Survive and carry out the mission was their priority now.
‘Okay, everyone gather round in a circle and hold on to each other.’ He turned to Harlequin and asked, ‘Are you sure you can do this?’
‘Are you?’ he replied. ‘You’ve never done this many before.’
‘Let’s find out.’ He made sure that everyone was attached to the circle then Harlequin stood behind him and put his hands on Cobb’s shoulders.
‘Okay here we go,’ said Cobb and as he did that thing that he called ‘pushing’, Harlequin controlled his change of frequency until it matched that of the world where the portal was being generated from. They slowly blurred then disappeared until just Harlequin was left standing there alone in the empty field, with his arms outstretched. He lowered his arms and said, ‘Well, there’s a thing,’ as he hadn’t been entirely sure that it was going to work. Then he clicked his fingers and did his own disappearing trick.
***
Cobb looked around him. ‘Okay,’ he told the others. ‘You can let go of each other now.’
‘Well, said Lt. North. ‘Are you going to do anything?’
‘I already have,’ replied Cobb. ‘Look over there.’
They all looked. The airship had followed a man made road along the floor of the valley to where it had dropped them off. Now, in place of that road all that was there was a dirty, mud track.
‘Good Gods, you did it!’ Lt. North exclaimed.
‘Yes, well, there’s no need to tell everyone is there?’ Jim pointed out.
‘No, of course not, sorry. Okay everyone good to go?’ Everyone indicated their readiness. ‘Right, let’s move out.’
***
The Royal train pulled into Kendal railway station after travelling all night and the occupants disembarked. As expected there was the usual gathering of civil and military dignitaries waiting upon them. After being introduced to the highest ranking military man there, Colonel Sumner of the Royal Horse Artillery, King Victor drew him aside and asked, ‘How did last night’s attack go?’
The Londum Omnibus Volume Two (The Londum Series Book 12) Page 50
