Martin King and the Prison of Ice (Martin King Series) (11 page)

Eventually,
they reached the door of an office. A gold plaque over the door read:

Jaz Jazz, MTE

“Jaz Jazz?”
said Martin. “Funny name. So this man runs the whole Tax Office?”

“Well, sort of.
Jaz Jazz does run the Tax Office, but I was being a little imprecise when I
said
man.
”

Mulciber took a
keycard from his pocket and swiped it. The office door clicked open.

“Special
privileges,” said Mulciber. “Access all areas.”

Martin followed
his granddad inside the office. It was a very strange room. The floor was
carpeted with grass, and it was filled with trees. Little birds chirped from
the branches. There was a small fountain, and a pond. A beautiful Thieron woman
was sitting on a park bench, using some sort of computer screen that was
projected in front of her.

“Hello,
darling,” said the woman. For a second Martin thought she was talking to him.
But she was talking to Mulciber.

Mulciber
grinned and took the woman by the hand, kissing her on the lips. Martin just
stood there, dumbfounded.

“This is my
grandson, Martin King,” said Mulciber.

Martin walked
over to greet the woman. She was wearing a scarlet business suit that was made
of a rubber-like material. She touched his head with her cold fingertips.

“Impressive
brain development,” she said. “He’s certainly a King.” The woman smiled. “Nice
to meet you, Martin. My name’s Jaz Jazz. Do you like my office?”

“It’s very…
sunny,” said Martin.

He looked up,
squinting. There was some kind of orb floating above the room, like a tiny sun.
The light from it was very much like actual sunlight.

Jaz Jazz laughed.
“My office alone accounts for 10% of the energy usage of this entire planet.
But, then again, the department has become 400% more effective since I took the
job, so fair is fair.”

Mulciber kissed
the woman again. Martin wondered what their relationship was. It would have
been strange to see his granddad kiss such a young woman—that is, if he didn’t
look so young himself.

“So what do you
want, Mulciber?” said Jaz Jazz. “I know you didn’t come all this way to see
me.”

“I need to use
Rapport,” said Mulciber.

The woman
crossed her legs. “You don’t need permission for that.”

“And I don’t
need permission for this either,” said Mulciber, taking the woman in his arms
to kiss her again.

Martin stood
there awkwardly.

“I’ll wait
outside,” he said finally.

Mulciber and
Jaz Jazz didn’t hear him. He stepped outside the office and waited outside the
door.

“He really
meant ‘access all areas’,” Martin muttered.

Then he heard
footsteps coming up the stairs. Martin tensed. A man appeared. It was a face
that Martin recognised.

“You? Why are
you—?” Martin began, but before he could finish the man lifted up a gun and
shot him in the chest.

*

Martin groaned as he slowly
regained consciousness. He was sitting in a dark room. A bright light made his
eyes water. Martin tried to stand up, but he was tied to the chair.

“Oh, you’re
awake,” said a cold voice. “I’ve confiscated your gun.”

A man stepped
out from the shadows. It was the man that had shot him. It was the Reverend
Alexander Howell.

“Why are
you
here?” said Martin.          

The Reverend
smiled. “It’s quite a long story, but I suppose you’ve got the time to listen.”

Alexander
Howell pulled up a chair and sat facing Martin. Martin was confused. Why had
the vicar come to the Switchboard?

“Once upon a
time,” said Howell, “I used to be a police officer. I worked for the Axis
Justice Department, and I was the very best officer they had. My
brother—Zorus—worked alongside me. The Justice Department sent us on all the
most dangerous assignments. We took down the White Mutineer, Asvurd, the Dancers
of Spartum-3, the Purple King, the Bearded Thief. Zorus and I were famous on
Hope.”

“Why are you
telling me all this?” said Martin, blinking in the brightness.

“You are
involved in the story indirectly. Now listen. One day, Zorus and I walked into the
office and our boss told us that we were going to be sent on our most dangerous
assignment yet. We were to arrest one of the worst criminals our race had ever
produced—an infamous murderer. The murderer’s name was Mulciber.”

Martin’s heart
started to beat faster. “Mulciber?”

“Yes. But we
weren’t worried about the assignment. We were strong and courageous. We had
already defeated hundreds of villains. So we took our ship to the planet
Melyzza, where Mulciber was hiding.”

Alexander
Howell smiled bitterly. “We thought it would be easy. But Mulciber was ready
for us. Somehow, he knew we were coming. So he set an ambush for us. It was a
massacre. Over 50 of our men were killed as soon as they stepped out onto the
planet. And…” Mulciber’s eyes filled with angry tears. “And he killed Zorus. He
killed him. Your grandfather killed my brother.”

Martin
swallowed. He felt a terrible sinking sensation. Surely it couldn’t be true.

“But why have
you captured me?” he said finally. “Where do I come into all this?”

The Rev.
Alexander Howell smiled. “I’m going to kill you, of course. Zorus was
everything to me, and Mulciber destroyed him. I’m going to destroy everything
that Mulciber holds dear.”

“I hadn’t even
met him until this morning,” said Martin. “What makes you think he’ll even
care?”

Howell smiled.
“Oh, he will care. I’m going to tear apart the lives of everybody directly or
indirectly associated with Mulciber. The more people I hurt, the more
satisfying the revenge.”

Martin had a
sudden thought. “It was you. It was you all this time. Controlling Darcy’s
mind, trying to make us split up.”

The vicar
smiled. “Well done. I also hacked into the Time Sphere that I gave you so it
sent you to the day of Pyridos’ destruction. I’ve tried to kill you a few
times, actually, but you keep getting lucky. Tommy managed to survive one of my
attacks too, in fact. I tried to open up a portal to a black hole to suck him
in, but he survived.”

“Stay away from
my friends,” said Martin angrily.

“Can’t do, I’m
afraid. Sorry. I’ve got to get as much revenge as possible. I would have
loved
to kill your mother, too, Martin. It’s such a shame she’s already dead.”

Martin had
never felt so disgusted by a person in his life. But he was also confused about
something.

“I don’t
understand why you helped us,” said Martin.

“Simple,” said
Howell. “I wanted you to use the recall device to summon Abaddon. The Axis
Lords have been trying to arrest me ever since I deserted my post. With a bit
of luck, Abaddon will obliterate the fools.”

“Why don’t you
just kill me, then?” said Martin.

“Oh no, that
wouldn’t work at all. You see, any grief
you
feel will also affect
Mulciber. If I killed you now, it would cause Mulciber a lot of pain. But it
will cause him
more
pain if I kill Darcy and Tommy first, and then you.
Do you see?”

“You’re
insane,” said Martin.

He spat in
Howell’s face. The Axis Lord didn’t even look angry; he wiped the saliva away
with a smile.

“Nothing you do
can upset me, Martin,” he said. “I do not have anything against
you
. I’m
only going to kill you to hurt your grandfather.”

“That’s all I
needed to hear,” said a voice.

A door opened,
and light flooded into the room. Martin realised that the room was actually a
small spacecraft. Mulciber was standing at the entrance.

“You!” said
Howell, leaping to his feet.

“I heard
everything,” said Mulciber. “A very touching story.”

“It’s not
true?” said Martin. “You’re not actually a criminal?”

“It’s all true,
Martin. All I can say in my defence that everybody I have killed was a
murderer. It was my mission to bring down the corrupt Axis government.”

“My brother
wasn’t a murderer!” shouted Howell. “Zorus never killed a single person—not
even when we were on assignments.”

“Your brother
betrayed you,” said Mulciber. “How do you think that I knew about your arrival?
Zorus was terrified of me. He knew he would die if he stood against me. So he
informed me about the attack, in exchange for his life.”

“Liar!” Howell
spluttered.

“It’s true. The
thing is, Zorus had a change of heart. He realised that he couldn’t live with himself
for betraying you, and he pulled a gun on me. So I killed him.”

Alexander
Howell slumped to the floor. It was like he was broken. But he slowly got to
his feet.

“Well, he did
the right thing in the end,” he said. “And that’s what matters. This doesn’t change
anything. You still killed him.”

“Calm down,”
said Mulciber. “We can talk about this.”

“No!”

Howell pulled
out a gun and pointed it at Mulciber. Mulciber’s eyes flashed green, and the
Reverend Alexander Howell fell to the floor. Martin took his pulse.

“No pulse,” he
said faintly. “He’s dead. You killed him.”

Mulciber
nodded. “I did. Even if he hadn’t tried to shoot me, he would still have had to
die. He hated me too much to live. He would have killed my entire family.”

“You’re
probably right,” said Martin reluctantly.

“Speaking of
family,” said Mulciber. “Let’s see if we can find my daughter.”

“What is this place?” said
Martin.

They were
standing inside a black room. In the centre of the room was a silver chair,
which was lit by a single directional light. It gleamed in the darkness.

“This is
Rapport,” said Mulciber. “I designed it as the quickest way to access the
Universal Switchboard. It’s hardly ever used, though—creates more paperwork,
you see. Go on, sit down.”

Hesitantly,
Martin sat in the cold silver chair.

“Now,” said
Mulciber, “Rapport allows you to track any person in the universe, providing
that you have a sample of their DNA.” He held up a small hairbrush that had
hairs tangled up in it. “This was your mother’s.”

Martin took the
hairbrush.

“So what do I
do?” he said.

“Simply close
your eyes.”

Martin closed
them. As soon as he did so, he felt like he was falling. He opened his eyes
again. The Rapport room had vanished. It was like he was floating in space… he
tried to control his direction, but he couldn’t. Something was making him move.
He suddenly began to soar involuntarily towards a nearby galaxy. Stars rushed
past him as he hurtled forwards. He flew past comets and constellations, heading
towards a single planet.

He stopped. He
was floating in front of a white world. The surface was covered in ice.

“What do you
see?” said Mulciber’s voice.

“An ice
planet,” said Martin.

“Go closer.”

Martin began to
move again, but he had control this time. He flew towards the planet and landed
on the surface. It looked cold, but Martin felt warm. The planet was covered in
snow.

“What do you
see now?” said his grandfather.

“Lots of snow.”
Martin squinted; the flakes were falling over his eyes. “And there’s some sort
of building… a kind of palace… made of ice.”

“Anything
else?”

“Yes. There
are… two suns.”

Martin felt a
hand on his shoulder. Instantly, the planet vanished. He was back in Rapport.

“Styxa,” said
Mulciber grimly. “You saw Styxa. It’s a prison planet.”

Martin
swallowed. Was everyone in his family a criminal?

“But… what’s
she doing there?”

Mulciber shook
his head. “I don’t know.”

“But she’s
alive?”

“It seems so.
If she is, we know where to find her. There’s no point waiting. We’ll go to
Styxa right away.”

Martin nodded. He
got up out of the silver chair and followed Mulciber out of the black room.

*

Martin and Mulciber stepped out
onto the icy planet. It looked exactly the same as in Rapport. But this time,
Martin could feel the cold. And it was extremely cold. He pressed a switch on
his spacesuit, and warmth flooded through it.

Without them
, Mulciber had said,
we would freeze to death less than five
minutes after setting foot on the planet.

Mulciber
pointed towards a tall shape that was jutting out of the snow. It was a kind of
sculpture— a stick with a serpent wrapped around it.

“That pole
marks the entrance to the catacombs,” said Mulciber. Martin could hear him
because they had communication devices built into the spacesuits. “The
prisoners are all kept underground.”

They made their
way through the knee-deep snow. It was hard to see through the flurry of white.
Mulciber stopped next to the pole.

“I’ll go
first,” he said, “and deal with the guards.”

The Axis Lord
took hold of the pole and pulled it towards him. It was a lever. A hole opened
up in the ice; it started to suck in the snow like a plughole vortex. Mulciber
paused, and then jumped into the hole. Martin waited a few seconds; then he
jumped down after him.

It was a
strange experience. He was caught by some kind of air current. He felt like he
was floating on warm air. He drifted down the hole very slowly; it took almost
a minute before he reached the bottom. Mulciber was standing at the dark
entrance to a tunnel, helmetless. Two Axis Lord guards were lying on the floor.

“You didn’t…?”
said Martin, quickly removing his helmet.

Mulciber shook
his head. “They’re not dead. Just stunned.”

The Axis Lord
accessed a computer panel on the wall, and pressed a few buttons.

“We’re very
close,” he muttered. “Come on.”

They left their
helmets on the ground, and the Axis Lord led Martin into the dark tunnel. They
walked in darkness for a few seconds before being plunged into light. Martin
blinked. The corridor was brightly-lit, and had a polished wooden floor.

“It all looks a
bit posh,” said Martin.

Mulciber
nodded. “As a rule, Axis Lord criminals are treated with respect and courtesy.
Before the defences were breached, most prisoners were sent to the City of
Serenity. Styxa was reserved for those deemed too dangerous.”

Martin swallowed.
“Why was mum dangerous?”

“I don’t know,
Martin. But I can’t wait to find out.” He grinned. “They were going to send me
to Styxa, but I escaped.”

“What did you
do?”

“I killed
people, Martin.” He paused. “Does that upset you?”

“No.”

“Good. Because
they deserved it, I promise you. Ah, here we are.”

They had
reached a large oak door. The door had no handles.

“She’s in
there,” said Mulciber.

“Mum? Mum’s in
there?”

Mulciber
nodded. “The question is—how do we get in?”

He touched the
door and his eyes flashed green. It immediately swung open.

“After you,”
said Mulciber.

Martin entered.
It was another corridor. But this time it was different. There was a thick
cream carpet, and the walls were covered in photographs. Martin realised that
they were pictures of him as a baby, and pictures of his dad.

Martin took a
deep breath, and made his way down to the end of the corridor. Then he stepped
out into a living room. Aurora was sitting on a battered leather sofa, watching
an old-fashioned television set. When Martin and Mulciber entered, she jumped
to her feet.

“It… it can’t
be.”

The Axis Lady
had straight white hair and shining purple eyes. She looked very young. She was
wearing human clothes—blue jeans and a sweater.

Martin smiled.
“Mum?”

“Oh, Martin…”

She embraced
Martin, her eyes filling with tears, and turned to Mulciber.

“Father… I
can’t believe you came… it worked…”

Mulciber took
the Ring of Last Resort from his pocket.

“The message
was corrupted,” he said, “but we still managed to find you.”

“One of the
guards sold the ring to me,” said Aurora.

There was a
brief silence. It was weird—suddenly meeting his mum again after years thinking
her dead. He felt unbelievably happy about it, but he was lost for words.

“I don’t know
what to say,” said Martin, glancing around at the room.

“Prisoners on
Styxa are allowed to choose their own decoration,” she explained. “This is
modelled on the house that your father and I once lived in…” She tailed off.
“How is he? How’s Charles?”

Martin wondered
what to tell her. He could hardly point out that his dad had been an alcoholic
for years.

“He’s fine,”
said Martin. “Got a new job recently.”

“Oh, I can’t
wait to see him… you look so much like him.”

“Martin looks
more like you than Charles,” said Mulciber, smiling.

Aurora turned
to her father. “You
are
getting me out of this place, aren’t you?”

The Axis Lord
nodded. “Of course, Aurora. But I want to know something first. Why were you
imprisoned here?”

Aurora sighed.
“I don’t know.”

“You don’t
know?”

She shook her
head. “I was in a spaceship crash in the Helical Galaxy. I thought I was going
to die. There was a white flash… and I ended up in this prison.”

“But what were
you charged with?” said Mulciber. “What did they sentence you for?”

“I wasn’t
charged with anything,” she said. “I was never even taken to court. The
Custodian has never explained why I have been kept in here.”

Mulciber looked
amazed.

“Is that
surprising?” said Martin. From his experience of the Axis Lords, it sounded
like exactly the kind of thing they would do.

“The Axis Lord
legal system is corrupt,” said Mulciber, “but they always have a show of
legality—always. For someone to be imprisoned without a trial… it’s unheard
of.”

Aurora
shrugged.

“Well,” said
Mulciber. “Looks like we need to make a little detour before leaving this
planet.”

“Why?” said
Martin.

“Because I want
to know what’s going on…”

*

They were standing at the
entrance to the dark tunnel. Above them was the hole leading back out on to the
planet. Martin and Mulciber put their helmets on.

Mulciber’s eyes
flashed green, and another spacesuit appeared. Aurora put on the spacesuit, and
looked up.

“How do we get
out, father?”

“Simple.”

Mulciber’s eyes
flashed green again, and the circle began to get wider. Martin felt his hair
standing on end. Suddenly, a force pulled him upwards and out of the tunnel,
and dropped him onto the snow.

“Now,” said
Mulciber, pointing at the palace made of ice. “That is the Justice Palace.
That’s where we’re heading.”

“Can’t we just
leave?” said Aurora.

“No. I want to
find out why you were brought here first.”

They eventually
reached the Justice Palace. Three
Pendulum Officers
stood guard outside it. They raised their guns when the trio arrived. Mulciber’s
eyes turned green, and the robots were thrown into the air and flung towards
the snowy trees.

“The snow will
soon cover them,” said Mulciber. “Won’t you come in?”

Martin and his
mother uneasily followed Mulciber into the building. He closed the door behind
them. The entrance hall was grand—it was lit by gleaming chandeliers, and the
floor was covered with a red and gold checkerboard pattern.

“This way, I
think,” said the Axis Lord, pointing towards a staircase.

“Why are we
here?” said Martin, as he followed his grandfather up the steps.

“I want to have
a word with the Custodian.”

“The
who
?”

“The Custodian
is a legendary figure. He is an Axis Lord, but the myths say that he can never
die. They also say that he has remarkable powers of prophecy.”

“The Custodian
is in charge of Styxa,” said Aurora. “He rules the prison with a kind and gentle
hand. All of the prisoners are treated with dignity and care. I’ve only met him
once, but he seemed like a gentleman.”

“He was your
captor,” Mulciber reminded her.

Aurora nodded.
“I know.”

At the top of
the staircase was a large oak door. Mulciber knocked on it, and it opened.

“After me, I
think,” said Mulciber.

They entered
the room. It was a large study. A thin, bearded Axis Lord was sitting at a
mahogany desk, peering over a document.

“Ah,” he said.
“I knew you were coming. I am the Custodian. Sit down.”

The Custodian
gestured to three chairs that were in front of his desk.

“You
knew
we were coming?” said Martin.

“Of course. I
have the gift of prophecy. I can see some events thousands of years in the
future, but many others I can only see a few hours before they happen.” He pointed
to a small screen on a wall. “Also, I saw you on the security cameras.”

Mulciber
smiled.

“Now, will you
have a drink?” said the Custodian.

They nodded,
and he waved a hand. Four cups appeared. Martin took a sip, and recognised it
as warmia, an Axis Lord beverage that tasted like spicy toffee.

“You know why
we’re here, of course?” said Mulciber.

“Of course. You
want to know why your daughter was brought here, and by whom.” The Axis Lord
bowed his head. He looked very old, but his purple eyes were sharp and bright.
“I brought her here.”

“You did?” said
Mulciber.

The Custodian
nodded. “I took control of Aurora’s ship to make it crash. A split-second
before the collision, I teleported her out of the vessel. And I have kept her imprisoned
here ever since.”

“But why?” said
Mulciber.