The Steampunk Detective (16 page)

“It seems we were wrong about the Nazis,” he explained quickly. “They were hidden in one of the far chambers. We need to evacuate you as quickly as possible.”

They made their way back into to the open valley. Jack felt his heart pounding as they tried to race across the open snow. The shoes really were a nuisance. Mr Griffin started signalling to the Britannia while they were still half way across the valley. The airship immediately hung a series of blue and red flags across the top of the balloon.

“They’re warning the other ships,” Mr Griffin said.

They had almost made their way back to the Britannia when the hillside suddenly moved. A tremor vibrated underfoot.

“What was that?” Scarlet asked.

“I have no idea,” Mr Doyle said. “But I don’t think it’s anything good.”

Soldiers were pouring out of the Britannia. A number of airships were slowly descending towards the valley. Jack and the others waited until the soldiers had disembarked before they started ascending the ladder. The ground shuddered under them again and a low rumble emanated around the valley.

Is it an earthquake? Jack wondered. It feels like the entire earth is moving.

They climbed up the ladder, quickly dragged their outer gear off and made their way to the bridge. Captain Bardle was busy giving directions for cast off.

“What’s happening, Captain?” Mr Griffin asked.

“We’re lifting off to make room for the other airships,” the captain explained. “We’ll ascend and exit at the narrow end of the valley.”

The Captain gave orders for lift off and a moment later they felt the ship start to ascend. Another low rumble rang around the valley and they all looked at each other.

“Look!” Scarlet cried.

Standing at the window, she pointed towards the snow covered field below them. The snow was moving upwards as if an earthquake were shaking the entire valley. Here and there, geysers of snow spat into the air as if fired from a gun.

An enormous copper beam, bent in three places, cracked through the snow. Four other girders appeared, attached to a square metal contraption. The beams waved through the air, clenching and unclenching experimentally.

I know what that looks like, Jack thought. But that’s impossible.

“It’s a hand!” he said in amazement.

“Surely not,” the great detective gasped.

No–one could speak. As the airship ascended, they looked down at the valley below. Another hand broke the surface. A head – a huge spherical box angled to a narrow chin – burst through the snow. Two glowing eyes looked out from the head. A ridge of metal encompassed the top of the head like a halo.

The giant slowly climbed from the landscape, shaking snow off itself as it stood up in the middle of the valley.

“It’s enormous,” Scarlet said, open mouthed.

“At least a hundred feet tall,” Mr Doyle said. “Possibly larger.”

The metal monster slowly looked around at the array of airships in the process of descending into the valley. Its metal eyes looked around until it focused on the Britannia.

“It’s spotted us!” Lucy cried.

The Britannia was making its way up the valley as quickly as possible. The metal giant was positioned to its right. It took a step towards the airship, reaching out for the giant balloon. Its hand clumsily tried to grab the ship, but just fell short.

They felt the airship lurch forward.

“We’ve gone to full power,” Mr Doyle commented. “Hopefully, that will be enough to –.”

The metal monster swatted the airship again. Its metal hand slammed against the side of the enormous gondola and glass flew in all directions. Lucy and Scarlet screamed as their group were thrown to the deck. Cold air rushed into the interior of the chamber.

The Britannia lurched from side to side, its ascent suddenly halted. Mr Doyle and Jack helped the girls to their feet. Jack realised they were slowly descending.

“We’re not going up,” he said. “We’re going down.”

Mr Doyle joined him at the shattered window. “It must have burst the balloon. The Captain –.”

The enormous hand swiped at them again. This time they felt it slam into the side of the balloon and they were thrown to the deck. A klaxon alarm rang throughout the ship.

“Prepare for emergency landing,” a voice announced, sounding far more calm than it had any right to. “Emergency landing. Emergency landing.”

Crew men burst past them.

“Oh no,” Scarlet said.

They could see the ground rapidly coming up to meet them.

“Hold onto the railing!” Mr Doyle yelled.

They each grabbed a stabilizer railing running along the side of the corridor. They heard the distant sound of weaponry. The other airships had opened fire on the metal creature.

“We’re coming in too fast!” Mr Doyle cried. “We’re going to –.”

The Britannia slammed into the ground.

Chapter Nineteen

Blackness.

Jack awoke to realise he could see nothing. A piece of cloth moved over his face, smothering him. He pushed hard at it and the material cried out.

“Oh dear!”

Scarlet Bell. The girl lay directly on top of him. She scrambled off him in a hurry.

“My apologies, Jack,” Scarlet said.

Jack’s head hurt, but it was nothing that would not heal. He looked past her to a sight of complete chaos. The airship had crashed, slamming into the snow. The windows next to them were completely broken. Light filled the interior only by virtue of a gap between the top of the snow and the window.

“Apology accepted,” Jack replied. “Mr Doyle!”

Ignatius Doyle lay on the floor a few feet away with Lucy Harker in his arms. They gingerly climbed to their feet.

“I’m alright, Jack,” he said, rubbing his rump. “Landed heavily. That’s all.”

They brushed loose snow off their clothing and Mr Doyle immediately started pulling at the snow around one of the gaps in the window.

“We have to leave the airship immediately,” he said. “It could explode at any time.”

Jack stuck his head into one of the staterooms and found a chair.

“Good man,” Mr Doyle said. “I suggest the ladies go first.”

Lucy Harker climbed onto the chair and stuck her head through the gap. She scrambled through with Scarlet behind. Then Mr Doyle turned to Jack.

“You next, my boy.”

Jack shook his head. “No, Mr Doyle. You are next.”

Mr Doyle looked as if he were about to argue, but instead accepted the firm offer from his protégé.

“As you say, Jack.”

He climbed onto the chair and exited the airship. Jack took one last look around before he climbed onto the chair, through the window and onto the ice. Mr Doyle helped him to his feet. Jack looked around. The airship had been completely destroyed in the attack – it would never fly again. An enormous gash ran along the rigid balloon from one end to the other.

“I can’t smell any gas,” Jack commented.

“It’s impossible to smell hydrogen,” Mr Doyle said. “It is odourless.”

They started across the snow away from the ship. Other crew were rapidly exiting the vessel. Jack saw the captain among them. They started to hurry away from the ship.

The battle between the metal monster and the other airships was in full swing. The other airships that had been ascending into the valley had rapidly risen upon seeing the assault upon the Britannia. They were firing rockets and bullets at the monster from a safe distance. The creature was on fire in a dozen places.

A number of ships were diving over the creature, dropping bombs onto its head. Another ship hovered in an almost stationary position, firing continuous gunfire into the eyes.

The creature continued reaching upwards, but trying to attack the airships was pointless. It was like swatting flies. The creature turned its attention to the downed wreckage of the Britannia. A moment passed as if it were formulating a plan.

It started towards the airship.

“Run!” Mr Doyle cried.

His warning was unnecessary. Everyone scrambled away as quickly as possible as the giant moved towards the airship. Jack found it difficult running through the snow – they had left their snow shoes behind at the wreck – but fear drove him forward.

Something loomed above his head.

He looked up to see an enormous metal foot bearing down in their direction.

Oh no
, he thought.
The foot’s going to crush Mr Doyle!

He raced towards the detective. The older man looked up as the foot loomed towards him. Jack slammed into the side of the older man, pushing him out of harm’s way as the foot slammed down.

Woomph!

Snow and rock flew in all directions as the mighty foot missed them by inches.

But they were not the target of the monster’s wrath. The appendage lifted again as the creature took another few steps to reach the wreckage of the Britannia.

Ka–boom!

The wreckage burst into flame as the metal creature scooped it up in one of its mighty hands. The heat was so intense that Jack felt the warmth on his back and he scrambled to his feet.

“Quickly!” Mr Doyle yelled. “Over to the rocks!”

He pointed towards a rocky outcrop to their left. All four of them headed towards it. A stony projection provided some cover for them as they scrambled behind it.

Jack looked back towards the metal creature. Airmen from the Britannia were still scrambling away from it like ants fleeing their nest from a human intruder. The metal man held the shattered burning wreckage of the airship in its hand as it slowly turned to face the barrage of airships firing at it. The creature swayed slightly as it regarded the enemy.

It drew back the remains of the Britannia and flung the burning wreckage at one of the airships.

“That’s the Voltaire!” Mr Doyle cried.

An instant later the wreckage struck the airship. Momentarily it clung to the mighty French airship as if the two were engaged in a dance high above the Swiss hills.

Oh no,
Jack thought.

No!

The Voltaire burst into flames.

“No!” Scarlet screamed.

The mighty French vessel nosedived towards the ground. It seemed to take forever. Jack felt his stomach turn over as men leapt from the burning wreckage in terror. The heat seemed to scorch his face as the wreckage melted the surrounding snow around them.

Jack swallowed hard. He felt sickened by the terrible carnage. Clenching his fists, he wished he could do something to stop the creature. Something moved in his peripheral vision.

“Look!” he cried.

They all turned as one to see a dark shape moving across the landscape. It was one of the insect machines they had seen in the underground cavern. Jack realised it was a kind of tank. He had seen pictures of tanks in books, but this looked far more advanced than anything he had previously seen. Its six legs slammed into the melting snow as it scuttled across the valley. The body was perfectly circular in design with a rotating turret at the peak.

Jack felt dismay as he pondered how they were all going to survive an assault by another piece of technology developed by the Phoenix Society. The tank came to a sudden halt and the turret swung around.

“It’s not aiming at us,” Mr Doyle said.

“It’s aiming at the metal man!” Jack exclaimed.

The turret pointed at the feet of the metal creature. At the same time the controllers of the metal man seemed to realise the tank was not on their side. It took a single step towards the tank.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Artillery shots slammed into one of the legs of the monster. The creature shuddered. It tried to take a step forward, but its masters did not realise it had been crippled. As its left leg swung forward, its foot remained stuck in the snow, completely severed from the apparatus above it.

As it tried to place its nonexistent foot down, the monster overbalanced and fell face forward into the snow.

The landscape shuddered as if a bomb had exploded. Jack was momentarily thrown to the ground. Snow flew in all directions, blinding him as he struggled to his feet. An enormous plume of snow filled the air.

The creature had to be finished, Jack told himself. It had to –.

On mighty metal hands and knees, the enormous creature crept towards the tank. The turret swivelled again – and fired.

A shot rang out across the valley – and missed. The artillery round slammed into the far wall of the valley. Snow avalanched downwards into an almighty slide down the opposite face.

An enormous explosion hit the back of the creature. And another. The airships above the monster had not been driven back by the destruction of the Voltaire. Instead, they had moved in closer and now started a sustained bombing of the metal giant.

The turret on the tank swung around again. It seemed to wait until the last moment as the creature moved forward again, its metal hand reaching out, now only feet away from the tank. The tank began to fire.

The head of the metal man snapped back as a series of artillery rounds slammed into it. The hand hit the port side legs of the tank and it staggered sideways. The turret swung around almost immediately and fired more rounds into the head of the monster.

Time seemed to stop. The metal face looked at the tank with smoke and fire pouring out of it. Finally the head fell forward and the knees collapsed under the creature. The ground shook as it hit the snow.

The creature did not move.

Yes! Jack punched the air. The monster’s finished!

Jack and the others went wild, yelling and screaming with delight. At the same time, a hatchway on the turret swung upwards and two heads appeared – Mr Harker and Mr Bell. The men started across the snow towards them. Both the women ran at them, throwing themselves into their father’s arms.

Jack and Mr Doyle followed at a more leisurely pace.

Mr Doyle placed a hand on Jack’s shoulder. “I did not get a chance to thank you, my boy.”

Jack looked at him blankly. “What for?”

“For saving my life!” he thundered. “This is getting to be a habit, you know.”

He looked sternly at him, but his eyes twinkled with delight.

The group came together as one. Jack and Mr Doyle slapped the two other men on their backs, congratulating them for their bravery. The girls were ecstatic. They literally jumped for joy, but their celebration was short lived. They started across the slushy snow towards the wreckage of the Voltaire. At the same time, British soldiers poured across the valley in the same direction.