Adam and the Arkonauts (15 page)

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CHAPTER 22

Señorita Ratti knocked on the door to the Mayor's office and, hearing a distracted ‘Si', pushed it open to reveal the Mayor slumped over his desk with his head in his hands.

‘What is happening to my city?' he groaned. Then he looked up and saw Adam and Calico Jack standing at the door beside his secretary. ‘Who is this?' he demanded.

‘They come from Siberia and they would like to be your twins,' said Senorita Ratti.

‘My twins!' roared the Mayor. ‘Don't they know I am an only child?'

‘No, no, comrade . . .' protested Ivan Ivanovich Ivanivov.

Adam decided that the whole twin thing had gone far enough. It had been necessary only to get them into the Mayor's office. Now they had achieved that, they could drop the pretence.

‘Don't you remember me?' he asked the Mayor.

The Mayor looked closely at Adam without any sign of recognising him.

‘I was with the Doctor,' Adam went on.

‘Ah,' said the Mayor, remembering. ‘How could I forget? But I don't understand, chico. You were not a Russian when I last saw you.'

‘No,' said Adam. ‘Neither of us are Russians.'

Calico Jack removed his bearskin hat and rubbed the fake snow from his eyebrows to show this was true.

‘But we had to get past the guard,' explained Adam, ‘because I have to tell you about the terrible things that have happened to the Doctor and Sniffage.'

‘Sniffage?'

‘The dog.'

Again the Mayor remembered.

‘The spaniel . . .'

‘Yes,' said Adam. ‘They are both in trouble and –'

The Mayor held up his hand.

‘Why should I help them after they refused to help me?' he said. ‘I have my own problems. First, I have had to do the washing-up this morning, and second, Felipez has revealed he has an expert who can stop the alarm.'

‘You're wrong about the Doctor and Sniffage,' cried Adam passionately, forgetting that mayors are not normally people you shout at. ‘They were both trying their best to help you and stop the Dreadful Alarm.'

‘How was your dog helping?' said the Mayor.

‘Er . . . he was sniffing dead things,' Adam ventured, realising that in his enthusiasm to defend Sniffage, he had strayed a little way from the truth.

‘Dead things?' repeated the Mayor. ‘How would sniffing dead things help?'

‘It doesn't sound like it would help,' Adam admitted. ‘But that's because everything on the surface seems confusing. But underneath there's a very simple solution which makes everything make sense. It's like a double helix.'

‘What's a double helix?' demanded the Mayor.

‘It's the building block of life, the structure of DNA. All we needed to do was figure out what it was and then we'd find out what was causing the Dreadful Alarm and where my mother was and everything would make sense. Do you see?'

Adam looked at the Mayor, Calico Jack and Señorita Ratti. Each of them looked blankly back.
Why
, wondered Adam,
did it make so much more sense when the Doctor said it?

‘But it doesn't matter if you don't understand,' he said desperately. ‘All that's important is that the Doctor and Sniffage were trying to help you even if you didn't know it. And now they're in trouble and you're going to have to help me rescue them or we won't stand a chance of stopping the alarm.'

The Mayor opened his mouth to respond.

PHEEP! PHEEP! PHEEP!

Chief of Police Grivas and ten officers from the Buenos Sueños Police Force charged into the room, brandishing pistols and whistles.

The Mayor leapt to his feet furiously.

‘What is the meaning of this?'

Chief Grivas, who was sporting a deluxe model of earmuffs with superior padding for all-round protection and extra comfort, motioned to his men to stop blowing their whistles. Then he removed his earmuffs.

‘We wanted to attract your attention,' he announced.

‘Ten police officers storming into my office is normally enough to attract my attention,' the Mayor informed him drily.

Chief Grivas casually reached for a cigar from his breast pocket.

‘This is a non-smoking office,' the Mayor informed him.

Grivas insolently stuck the cigar in his mouth, though he didn't light it.

‘My actions are for your own protection,' he told the Mayor. ‘We have received credible reports that you are in danger. You have been targeted.'

‘Targeted?' said the Mayor. ‘Who by?'

‘Detergents,' answered Chief Grivas solemnly.

‘Detergents?' the Mayor scoffed. ‘Surely not.'

‘I didn't mean detergents,' the Chief of Police said angrily. ‘I meant insurgents. They're a bit like terrorists but –'

‘Cleaner?' suggested Señorita Ratti.

Chief Grivas gave her a hard stare. Señorita Ratti glared fiercely back.

‘In light of this startling new development,' announced Chief Grivas abruptly. ‘I am forced to take over.'

‘What?' The Mayor was outraged.

Chief Grivas nodded. ‘It is clearly set out in the Crime and Punishment Code of Buenos Sueños that if the Mayor is threatened, then democracy itself is threatened. Therefore we must institute martial law. The police must take over immediately.'

‘You mean you're suspending democracy in order to save it?' said the Mayor incredulously.

‘Of course,' replied the Chief of Police. ‘Now, for your own protection I order you to remain here under the supervision of these officers while I run Buenos Sueños until such time as it is deemed safe enough for you to assume control again.'

‘And who will judge that?'

‘Me,' said Chief Grivas confidently. And now, flushed with power, he lit his cigar, inhaled deeply and blew black smoke into the Mayor's face.

‘I will not allow this,' said the Mayor, coughing. ‘Not until I have finally seen the Buenos Sueños Crime and Punishment Code for myself.'

‘Unfortunately it is not currently available,' Chief Grivas explained. ‘Trainee Officer Anna-Luis Grivas is currently studying it for her final exams tomorrow.'

‘I don't believe you,' cried the Mayor, who could feel his power ebbing away. ‘You have shown no evidence that there is a threat to me and, until you do, I will not submit to your orders.'

‘You have no choice,' snapped the Chief of Police. ‘You must obey my orders.'

He had tired of the Mayor's protests. He put on his deluxe earmuffs with superior padding for all-round protection, saluted his officers and nodded a perfunctory farewell to Señorita Ratti, Calico Jack and Adam.

Then he looked once more at Calico Jack. And this time he looked hard.

Horrified, Adam realised that his grandfather had forgotten to don his disguise again after showing the Mayor he wasn't a Russian. Too late, now, did Calico Jack jam his bearskin on his head and alter his expression. The Chief of Police tugged off his earmuffs and then whipped a photograph out of his pocket.

‘What have we here?' he demanded, holding the photo up next to Calico Jack's face.

‘I am Ivan Ivanovich Ivanivov –'

‘No, you're not,' said Chief Grivas. ‘You are Calico Jack, escaped murderer, robber, thief, fraudster, confidence trickster, swindler, smuggler and litter lout.'

‘I was framed for the litter,' said Calico Jack.

‘Arrest him!'

Adam expected his grandfather to do something amazing. But for once he seemed lost. Dumbfounded at his stupidity at forgetting to put his disguise back on, Calico Jack allowed himelf to be led away by two officers.

Then Grivas's eye fell on Adam.

‘What about this little chico here?' he sneered. ‘Whenever there is trouble, I always run into him.'

The Chief of Police stared at Adam so hard that he felt as though Grivas could see inside him – almost as if he could read his thoughts. Adam shrank back against the door that led into the Mayor's private apartments in a vain attempt to escape such harsh scrutiny.

‘Perhaps,' mused Chief Grivas, ‘he too is a threat.'

Fearing the same fate as Calico Jack, Adam slipped his hands behind his back and tried the door handle. The door was locked.

‘Yes,' continued Grivas. ‘The more I think about it, the better it would be for everyone if this chico was locked safely away in prison too.'

‘But I haven't done anything,' protested Adam.

The Chief of Police allowed himself an evil smile.

‘Who can tell me,' he asked, turning to the other police officers in the room, ‘what we arrest people for when they haven't done anything?'

‘Murder,' suggested Trainee Officer Xavi Grivas.

‘Don't be so stupid,' said the Chief, rounding on his officers. ‘To arrest someone for murder you have to have a body.'

Behind him, Adam heard a little clunk. Someone had just inserted a key into the lock.

‘Arson?' suggested another officer.

Chief of Police Grivas snorted.

‘Is my police force full of idiots?' he cried. ‘Of course not arson. For arson you need a burning building.'

Adam heard a tiny squeak as the key turned in the lock.

‘I'm going to have to tell you, aren't I?' he announced angrily. ‘The answer is conspiracy: the crime you can always arrest non-criminals for.'

‘But conspiracy to do what?' said Trainee Officer Grivas.

‘Anything you like,' replied the Chief of Police. ‘That is the beauty of it. You can be guilty of it even if nothing has happened. Police work would be so much harder without it.'

Behind him, Adam sensed the handle turn.

Chief Grivas swung round and pointed his cigar directly at Adam. ‘Arrest him for conspiracy.'

Two officers stepped forward to obey the command, but before they could reach Adam, the door behind him clicked open and an arm shot out and pulled him through.

Taken by surprise, Adam lost his footing, stumbled and fell backwards. ‘Ow!'

Crash!
The door was slammed shut again.
Clunk!
The key was turned in the lock.

Adam looked up to see his rescuer.

Anna, the Mayor's daughter.

She was oblivious to the pounding on the door behind her.

‘Open this door immediately!'

‘How did you know what was happening?' Adam asked, getting to his feet.

Anna pointed to the keyhole.

‘You looked through there?'

Anna nodded.

‘And lipread what everyone was saying?'

Anna nodded again.

‘It's not true, you know,' said Adam. ‘I'm not a conspirator.'

Anna pointed to herself.

‘You are?'

Anna nodded and shook her fist in the direction of the door.

‘You're a conspirator against the Chief of Police?'

Anna nodded again, nodded so hard her head might have fallen off.

Adam smiled.

‘If you are, then I am too.'

Anna offered him her hand. Adam shook it. They really were conspirators now.

‘If we're going to stop the Chief of Police taking over Buenos Sueños, then we need to rescue my dog, my dad, my grandad and my mum,' said Adam.

Surprised, Anna held up four fingers to check she had read his lips correctly.

Adam nodded. ‘Everyone I know seems to get taken prisoner by someone.'

He realised that the pounding on the door had stopped.

‘Is there another way into this room?' he asked Anna.

She nodded.

PHEEP!

‘I think they might've found it.'

Calmly, Anna signalled that he should follow her.

The two of them sprinted past the long dining table that spanned the room and out of the far door on to a landing. Adam grabbed Anna as she was about to launch herself down the staircase. She couldn't hear, but the police were on their way up the same flight of steps. They headed up the stairs instead, climbing until they reached the top floor.

‘Is there another set of stairs we can go down?' Adam asked Anna.

She shook her head.

‘We're trapped?' he said in alarm.

Anna shook her head and pointed up. Directly above them was a skylight.

‘We can't reach it,' Adam shouted. ‘The police are going to be here any second.'

Apparently unconcerned, Anna motioned to a bookcase against the wall. They hurriedly pulled out all the books and swept the ornaments off the shelves, then dragged the bookcase out so that it stood under the skylight. Using the empty shelves as steps, Anna began to climb up.