“My battery’s humming increased, then died, the pentacle falling dark.
“Silence fell in Bedlam.”
c
“I checked on Jephson once I was completely sure all the excitement was over. He lay on his back in the center of his room, gaze still fixed on the same spot in the corner of the ceiling, but he was quite, quite dead.
“The nurses took over as I cleared away the pentacle, and by the time I had the box ready to transport they were already moving the other patients away from the top floor.
“Most of them seemed to be in some kind of catatonic state, but one chap appeared to take an interest in me. He looked me in the eye in passing, and once again I felt a chill pass through me as he spoke:
“‘The shadows lengthen in Carcosa.’”
c
Carnacki sat back in his chair, his tale obviously done.
“Dash it, man,” Arkwright said. “What the blazes was that all about?”
Carnacki smiled.
“I cannot rightly say. But I believe I have had a damned close shave, for if I had caught even a glimpse of what was beneath that yellow mask, I might well be replacing Jephson in the vacant room. Just be thankful the peril seems to have passed, gentlemen. And if you ever come across that blasted play—do not read it.”
He ushered us to the door without further explanation.
“Now—out you go.”
The Watcher at the Gate
I arrived on Carnacki’s doorstep in Cheyne Walk that Wednesday at the same time as Jessup. Our old friend opened the door and let us inside. I thought at first glance that Carnacki looked somewhat pale and tired, and indeed, after another fine meal, he appeared content to sit and smoke. I was rather disappointed to realize that we would not get a new story that night, for it seemed from his demeanor that something had worn him out. Our friend looked ten years older than his true age, and, in truth, it was obvious that he should have canceled tonight’s gathering for the general good of his health.
I was about to tell him exactly that when he spoke, his voice alarmingly frail.
“I wondered whether I should lock myself away and get some rest,” he said. “But I find I am in the need of the company of friendly faces and stout friends, so please, chaps, indulge me. Do make sure you have your drinks fully charged and plenty of smokes at hand, for the story I shall tell is a long one, and I am sore tired so will need to take it slowly. It is also an alarming tale, and I cannot promise that you will sleep well in your own beds this night, for I have hardly had a wink myself since the events unfolded.”
c
“It began last Friday with a telegram from Whitehall requesting that I attend a meeting at the Home Office. As there was no other explanation as to what the purpose of the meeting might be, I did not make any preparations beyond ensuring I had my pipe and tobacco with me as I made my way along the Embankment.
“I was made to wait for an interminably long time in a drafty corridor—you know how these chaps are who think themselves more important than those they serve. I was finally shown into a rather cramped little office. It had one tiny window, and air that smelled like many people had been breathing it. A thin little man with pursed lips and pinched cheeks looked me up and down and sniffed, as if he had just been offered a bit of fish that had clearly gone off. I can tell you, I was jolly close to turning on my heel and having none of it, but I suppose I was just intrigued enough by the summoning to hear him out.
“His disdain for me could not have been much clearer.
“‘Before we start,’ he said, ‘I will have you know I have no truck with any witchcraft or mumbo-jumbo. I was against involving you right from the start and am only doing this under pressure from above.’
“I merely smiled thinly across the table at him—had I opened my mouth at that point, I might have said something I would regret later. I lit up a pipe—rather pleased to find that it annoyed him slightly, and also pleased to note that he did not mention that annoyance. It seemed he needed my services rather more than had been originally apparent.
“Finally, after he had made completely sure that I knew he did not like me, I got his name, a Mr. Gray—most apt in his case—and the reason for my being summoned.
“‘There is a bit of a flap on down Kent way—some scientist johnnies have got themselves in a spot of bother, and the man in the Ministry seems to think that you will be able to help.’
“He passed me an envelope, gingerly, as if the contents might explode in his face.
“‘All you need to know is in there. Your train leaves in an hour, so you had best hurry.’
“And with that, I was dismissed—he had his head down, signing interminable sheets of reports in crabbed writing, long before I turned and gladly took my leave of him. His rudeness had almost convinced me to head straight home, but the envelope had me intrigued. It was expensive paper—not the cheap stuff they generally used in these corridors—and it had been addressed to me personally, in a fine cursive hand.
“I took a seat in the corridor and quickly read it through while finishing my pipe.”
c
“‘Carnacki,
“‘Sorry to bother you like this, but I have need of your services. Our research establishment at East Malling has uncovered something that I think is right up your street. The chaps down there don’t know what to make of it, but I have assured them that you’re the man for the job.
“‘They know you are coming, and there is a room waiting for you at the White Lion in the village should you need to stay over.
“‘Your ticket is enclosed.”’
c
“It was signed simply, ‘Churchill.’
“I hadn’t heard a peep from the man since that thing with the bally German spy, and there were little in the way of pleasantries or entreaties to my good nature. He had simply assumed, as was his way, that all he had to do was say ‘jump’ and everybody would ask ‘how high?’ And you chaps know me—I can be quite contrary if I feel someone is trying to take advantage.
“In this case, however, I will admit to being intrigued, so an hour later I was settled into a compartment on the train, heading at some speed through South East London and down into Kent. I did not have an overnight bag with me, for I was resolute in my belief that I would be home in time for supper. Unfortunately things did not work out quite as I had hoped.”
c
“I knew of East Malling only as a small hamlet, a stop on the main line to Canterbury. Having never previously alighted there, I was pleasantly surprised to find it a neat and tidy Kentish town of the old style, with several inns and taverns that looked most welcoming. I was not, however, given any time to sample their pleasures, as I was met from the train by a uniformed chap, a Sergeant Masters, who, while pleasant enough, was insistent that I accompany him immediately.
“He led me at quite a march some way along the railway line, then down into a maze of apple and pear tree plantings until we came out into a large copse of tall beech trees. And there, in a clearing in the middle of that copse, I finally came to get some idea as to why Churchill thought I might be able to help.
“The clearing housed a small cluster of tin-roofed huts gathered around a larger building, more of a barn, in the center. And despite the fact it was broad daylight, I saw clearly that there was something decidedly off about the scene in front of me. It took me several seconds to spot it, then it came to me—despite it being not yet July, and it having been rather a damp start to the summer, the trees were already showing signs of autumn colors—and in some cases the fall had already begun. There was something else, too—a most distinctive rainbow shimmer, like oil evaporating on a hot skillet, and it covered the whole area. I almost tensed as the sergeant led me forward, expecting to feel it greasy against my cheeks, but the air seemed quite dry and warm as we approached the barn.
“Armed soldiers stood on either side of the tall doors, but did not attempt to stop me from entering—it seemed I was indeed expecte
d.
“The inside of the barn was a flurry of activity. There did not seem to be any more military, just chaps in serious suits with even more serious expressions on their faces. All of the hubbub was centered around a contraption in the middle of the floor, a tall, tangled nest of wiring, valves and coils that hummed rather alarmingly and gave off the most nerve-wracking bolts of blue electricity at what seemed to be irregular intervals.
“One of the suited chaps saw me enter and came over to relieve the sergeant of his duties. He pumped my hand eagerly. ‘Swithin’s my name,’ he said. ‘I’ll be your liaison here. I’ll bet you’re champing at the bit to get started.’
“It turned out that both of us were under quite some misapprehension as to the amount of knowledge the other held. Swithin believed I had already been fully briefed, which was obviously not the case. And I believed that these scientist chaps knew what they were up to. As it turned out, that was obviously not the case either.”
c
Carnacki stopped at that point and turned to me. “Can I bother you to fetch me a refill, Dodgson?” he said. “I’m not sure I have the energy to get up.”
I did as requested, and while I was at the drinks cabinet, Arkwright took his chance to interject.
“East Malling? I played cricket there some years ago. Isn’t it all agricultural research they do down that way—new varieties of apples and pears, better-quality strawberries, that kind of thing?”
Carnacki smiled thinly.
“That had been my thought too,” he said softly. “But I was soon to discover that I was very much mistaken.”
He waited until I had fetched him a stiff brandy, downed a hefty gulp of it, then continued his tale.
c
“At first Swithin did not answer me when I asked the purpose of the equipment of the barn. He took my arm and led me closer to the coils and whining machinery.
“‘We believe we have discovered a way to access the most basic building blocks of reality itself—the stuff of primal creation—a gateway to the secrets of the universe.’
“I did not quite know how to reply to that; I certainly suspected it of being mere hyperbole, but it was clear that he believed at least some of what he had said. I turned my back as the contraption pulsed blue again, so intense that it was brighter than the sun, even through my closed eyes. Swithin patted me on the shoulder a few seconds later.
“‘Open your eyes, Carnacki. Look here.’
“I looked where he pointed. It took several moments for my eyes to adjust to the glare, and I had to squint. Even then, it wasn’t actually clear what I was observing, but there was obviously something happening.
“A tear in the fabric of space, no bigger than a sliver of fingernail, appeared in a void in the center of the contraption and hung there. As I watched, it settled into a new configuration, a black droplet, somewhat oily in appearance, little more than an inch across at the thickest point. It seemed to be held quivering in mid-air by some strange force emanating from Swithin’s somewhat makeshift electrical mechanism.
“It looked like an egg.
“Swithin looked like the cat that had got the cream, a broad grin plastered across his face.
“‘As you can clearly see, we have done it, Carnacki.’
“I looked at the black egg, then Swithin, then back to the egg again. The rainbow aura thickened again, dancing around the shimmering thing that hung impossibly real in the air.
“‘What in blazes is it?’ I whispered.
“‘We like to think of them as “soap bubbles”,’ Swithin replied. ‘It is a theory that comes to us from Tesla. Reality consists of many—multiple, perhaps even infinite—universes, each in its own bubble, each connected by the thinnest of membranes to many of its neighbors. Glue, if you like—the stuff that holds everything together.’
“‘So what happens now?’
“‘Now we study it. Think of it, Carnacki. A whole new universe at our disposal.’
“‘And what is inside the bubble?’
“‘He laughed. ‘That is what we are trying to find out.’
“I had another look at the egg. It certainly looked larger to me. The barn started to throb, like a heartbeat. The egg pulsed in time. And now it was more than obvious—it was most definitely getting bigger.
“‘The field boundary is collapsing,’ Swithin shouted.
“The throb became a rapid thumping; the barn shook and trembled. The vibration rattled my teeth and set my guts roiling.
“A blinding flare of blue blasted all coherent thought from my head. When I recovered enough to look back at the contraption there was nothing to be seen hanging there but empty space. The black egg was gone as quickly as it had come.
“‘As you can tell, we’re having a few teething problems. Mr. Churchill tells us that you are just the man to advise us on the way forward.”
“I looked up at the barn roof. A glistening aurora of rainbow color hung there, hissing slightly. A piece of rafter fell to the ground near my feet—a six-inch slab of wood that crumbled into dust—and more rainbow shimmers—under the slightest pressure of my fingers.
“It’s my advice you want, is it? Then you shall have it. Raze this place to the ground. Do it now, and do it quickly. You do not know what you are playing with.’
“Of course my outburst caused quite some consternation—it was clearly not what they had been expecting to hear. I was badgered and harried until in the end I used Churchill’s name again, just to get them to keep quiet.
“‘Look; I was sent here to give my opinion. I gave it. I have told you what I can do to help. The fact that you do not like what you have been told concerns me not a jot. If you have a problem, take it up with Mr. Churchill. I am going home.’
“And with that, I left, glad to get out from under that dancing rainbow aurora, and even more glad of a smoke in the station as I waited for a train back to town.
“And there it might have ended, had I not caught sight of two local children playing with something by the side of the track. I strolled over in that direction and looked down.
“‘It was a cat—or rather, it had been until recently. Now it was just a pitiful crumpled thing, fallen in on itself into little more than dust—a dust that sent a rainbow aura dancing in the air as the lads poked at it with a stick.”
c
“Ten minutes later I was back with Swithin—one of the small huts in the copse of beech trees was a makeshift mess hall, and he was able to get me a sandwich and a cup of strong sweet tea. I’d have preferred something stronger but had to make do with what was on offer as I tried to impress on Swithin just what they were getting themselves in to.
“‘Those things you think of as eggs, or glue, or whatever the blazes you said earlier—that is all wrong. I have seen their like—or something dashed like it—before. I do not know how you managed it, but you have clearly opened a gateway to the Outer Darkness with all your fumbling around. And like all gateways, the longer you leave it open, the more chance there is of something coming through it.’
“Swithin tried to allay my fears and did not even seem concerned when I mentioned the dead cat at the railway.
“‘It must have sneaked in here at an inopportune moment—we have been finding dead rats these past few days.’
“‘And you do not think that is perhaps problematic?’
“‘Needs of science, old chap—and Mr. Churchill’s orders that we find something he can use. We cannot go backward at this juncture.’
“‘It is not your going backward that worries me,’ I said. I believed I was starting to understand why Churchill had sent me here. ‘Can you at least stop until I’ve had a chance to catch up with what you have done already?’
“‘No can do, old boy,’ he said. ‘The powering-up sequence is already underway for the next attempt. You should come and watch—it’s jolly fascinating stuff.’
“‘Fascinating is a word I have often used in my encounters with the Great Beyond,’ I repl
ied. ‘But in this case, I believe fear would be a more appropriate response. These gateways have been closed tight for a reason. To open them without thought for the consequences is folly of the highest order.’
“My concerns continued to be waved aside at every turn, and short of beating a path back to Whitehall and demanding to see Churchill himself, I was at quite a loss as to how to proceed. My only hope was to stay close by and hope that I could prevent catastrophe, so I made my way back to the barn with Swithin. A rainbow aurora, like oil shimmering in the sun on a hot day, hung over the stand of trees, swaying in time with the waft of branches in the slight breeze. It was all very pretty, but the sight of it filled me with deep dread and I felt a shiver of cold despite the summer sunshine.
“We were just in time to see them switch on the power.”
c
“Almost immediately a black, almost oily egg appeared in the void inside the contraption and hung in the air. It gave off a distinct hum—I felt it in my gut and jaw and with an accompanying vibration that made me more than slightly nauseous.
“Swithin had a look of relief on his face.
“‘It has stabilized,’ he said, and smiled, but it did not reach his eyes and I saw that there was something else troubling the man.
“‘So let us say that I believe you, and it is indeed stable,’ I said. ‘In that case, what has got you so worried?’
“He sucked on a pen as if pretending it was a cigarette.
“‘I wasn’t going to tell you,’ he said eventually. ‘It might be nothing. It was something I saw when the field collapsed earlier.’
“‘Just tell me,’ I said, cold terror gripping me again. I was not at all sure I wanted to hear his reply.
“‘It was just when the field went,’ he said. He couldn’t look at me. ‘And only for an instant. But when the field collapsed I thought I saw the egg burst. It opened out—a fine, rainbow-infused fog. It seemed to swell and diminish, twice, as if breathing, and when I looked back, it was gone.’
Carnacki: The Watcher at the Gate Page 15
