The Book of Josiah - Chapter 14b

Cont. from part 1 here.

    Theano and Amber were ahead of him, Lovecraft to his side and Duke followed close behind. These narrow tunnels made him nervous - anyone could be lurking just around the next bend. The rounded walls seemed to be funnelling them towards their destination, nudging them onwards. It was as if they had been swallowed by a great beast and were being pushed towards the gut. Covered with once-glossy tiles of indeterminate colour, with the shattered remains of strip-lights overhead, this place must once have been more welcoming than now. The shadows were almost alive, coiling and twisting over the shattered tiles, the bits of fallen masonry, shards of coloured plastic. The darkness itself was a predator, lurking around the next corner - and Josiah could not but feel that they were the prey.


    Despite the short distance between them in terms of metres, the gulf between King’s Cross and Camden Town was vast. Camden oozed with life - everywhere you turned you were met with humanity scratching away at the barren earth, fighting over scraps of bread and rotten meat. Eyes watched your every move, some predatory, some merely curious, but eyes everywhere.
    King’s Cross was home to the dead and the dying. The silence was oppressive, choking Josiah’s ears - not even the rats dared breathe too loudly. He had thought that the silence would have protected them, given them advance warning of ambush but here, death too was silent.
    Josiah had already had reason to be grateful for the extra weapons they had brought. Three times they had had to defend themselves, as the sudden silence was broken by the thunder of guns or the clatter of knives. Thanks to Lovecraft’s keen eyes and Duke’s impressive aim they had managed to get this far without injury. Now they were close.
    Some time back they had entered Nightmare territory. It had been easy enough to recognise: disembodied heads had been impaled on five foot iron spikes, faces fixed in unearthly grins. Although the heads had been in various states of decomposition, Amber judged that none had been there longer than a couple of weeks.
    Ahead was another turning and the scientists slowed as they came near. In the corner was a mirror, designed to allow people to see what was coming the other way. Now it was useless, broken into tiny splinters of reflecting light. Theano gently held out a mirror of her own, strapped to the end of a long stick, while Lovecraft focussed his whirling eyes on the image it displayed. He nodded. Theano put the mirror away and pulled her gun ready once more. They edged onwards.
    He was putting an awful lot of trust in these four people. A wrong move here could lead to all of their deaths. If Lovecraft nodded, they would walk brazenly into a shower of bullets. If Thee tilted the mirror to the wrong angle…
    Could he trust them? Josiah didn’t even know their real names. He called them his friends but who were they really? And more, who had they been before the Square? They never spoke about the past, it was one of those subjects that was considered distasteful in the Square, though it prided itself on having no taboos. Had they had close links with the Church? For all Josiah knew, Deucalion could have been Inner Circle! He did not really know any of them except, perhaps, Amber. Someone had tipped the Nightmares off as to where he lived - now he might have been followed but any of his friends would have known where to find him. One of them could have searched his room or sold him out to a third party.
    But anyone could have found him, surely. The Circle already knew where he lived - they had given him the room in the first place. Anyone else could have found out almost as easily. He should have moved as soon as he had left. He was too comfortable, that was the problem. He wasn’t ready to leave his past behind completely, not quite yet. Josiah sighed. He should have changed rooms. As soon as they got out of here he’d pack up and get out.
    Anyway, he would trust Amber with his life, and Amber trusted the others. And hadn’t they all saved his life on several occasions already? Or had that been a dream? No, it had been real - Amber in the Market, Lovecraft, Thee and Duke on the way here. No, they wouldn’t have betrayed him.
    A voice suddenly sounded from all around them, cutting through the silence like a steel claw:
    “What is your business?”
    Josiah looked at Lovecraft who shook his head in confusion - he could see no one.
    “What is your business?! I won’t ask again.”
    “Must be hidden speakers in the walls,” muttered Thee.
    “We are here to talk to the Archangel,” said Josiah, not quite sure how loud he should be talking.
    Shrieks of laughter reverberated through the tunnels.
    “Brave little fishes, lost amongst Piranhas. Why would the Archangel want to talk to you?”
    “We want to make a trade,” said Duke, “we come from the Square.”
    After a moment of silence the voice came back: “Very well, lower your weapons and you shall be escorted.”
    Josiah raised an eyebrow.
    “What choice do we have?” whispered Amber. “We need to talk and we are on their turf.”
    She holstered her gun and the others did the same. Within a few moments a three figures came scurrying down the tunnel towards them - one man, two women, dressed in scraps of leather and silver chains, with studs driven into their arms and foreheads. Monstrous demonic faces leered at the scientists from tattoos all over their bodies, scalps, faces, chests. It was the same design as the ring they had found in Josiah’s room - at least the rat man hadn’t lied about that. They were carrying basic weaponry that did the job without the trimmings but it didn’t look like they would be shot, at least not immediately.
    “Drop your guns over there!” barked the shorter woman. Her ears were slightly pointed, and her eyebrows arched, giving her an almost fairy-tale appearance, belied by her cold eyes and curled lip.
    “If we give you our weapons, we would be defenceless,” protested Theano. “You can hardly expect us simply to hand them over, just like that, with no assurances to our safety.”
    “You want to talk to the boss, you leave your weapons behind,” responded the other woman, taller, with dark skin and darker hair that was tied in a rough pony-tail but seemed somehow to be straining to break free.
    The man just stood there implacably, nearly two metres of black tattoos on ice-white skin, hard eyes narrowed, daring them to make a move.
    Duke undid his knife-belt, managed to untangle it from his enormous girth, and slung it to the ground. The others began to follow his lead, stripping themselves of guns, knives and the other hardware they had brought with. As Josiah put his gun on the ground he managed a whisper to Duke.
    “You sure?”
    “Trust me,” he whispered back, grinning his widest grin.
    When they were done there was a small mound of weapons on the floor but the Nightmares patted them down to make sure they weren’t hiding anything. Josiah noticed that the women did Theano and Amber, leaving the man to do Lovecraft, Duke and himself, despite the extra time it took. A curious display of courtesy - something Josiah had not expected to find here, amongst the damned.
    Eventually the man grunted his satisfaction and they were led forwards, one of the women in front, the others behind. If he had had any mental picture of his destination at all, it would have largely resembled Camden Lock. Not as crowded, certainly, and perhaps somewhat larger, but the overall tenor would have been similar. Nothing could have prepared Josiah for what greeted his eyes at the end of the tunnel.
    A vast cavern opened up before his eyes, the largest area of open space he had seen in the Deep. It must have been about a hundred metres long though it was hard to tell through the shadows. The ceiling was at least fifty metres above his head and was sloped, like old-fashioned roofs. The frosted glass made it impossible to know what lay above the roof - open air or just more concrete. Strip-lights hung down, suspended from the roof. Most of them were broken, or flickered crazily, but some still cast their lurid glow.
    The cavern was roughly divided into three sections. The middle of the room was about a metre lower than the floor to either side, a ditch or pit that ran the length of the space. Across it lay planks of metal, to enable easy passage from either side. Blocks of concrete had been placed against the walls, forming crude steps up to the higher levels. While the sides were lit by handheld flashlights, the centre was much darker, housing giant barrels and steel crates.
    Realisation slowly dawned on Josiah - this was part of the old railway station! He knew a little about the old railways that had run through London, though since the coming of the skyways they had all been shut down. He momentarily wondered what had happened to the tracks that must once have run through the pit. Torn up for scrap metal most likely. And the concealed speakers, perhaps they had been used to make announcements to the passengers. He tried to imagine the Nightmares announcing the destination of the next departure from platform one.
    As they were marched across the platform, devilish faces peered at him from the walls, their mouths a mockery of the living. Some had been painted over tiles, concrete and stone. Others had been carved into the walls themselves, or beaten out of sheets of metal.
    Groups of Piranhas gathered around them as they moved, in ever increasing numbers, all silent. In fact, one of the most startling things was the complete absence of noise, even here, where Josiah estimated there were at least fifty Nightmares.
    They stared at the newcomers with almost unbridled greed, sizing up everything they had of value - it was an uncomfortable feeling. One was chewing on what looked like a burnt rat, gristle slipping out of the corner of his lips, juices running down his chin unheeded.
    Many were wearing gold and silver jewellery, of skulls, bullets and demonic faces - a sign of great wealth and audacity in the Deep, where to display anything worth stealing was an open invitation. This gang was obviously rich, and powerful enough not to worry about announcing it.
    At the centre of the platform they were on, Josiah could see some sort of chair, propped up on blocks of concrete - the word ‘sleepers’ leapt unbidden to Josiah’s mind - large enough for two people to sit abreast. As they came closer, he could make out a strange geometric design picked out in red on the blue cloth, and a man, obviously too small for the chair, seated upon it.
    He was shorter than Josiah, with silver, almost white, hair that sprouted from his scalp like a jellyfish. Small round sunglasses perched on his nose despite the darkness and Josiah could almost feel the man’s eyes watching them as they walked towards him. He wore nothing extravagant, no silver or gold, no chains or rings. His pale skin was free from piercings and tattoos, all of which left him looking somehow less than real in this place, diminishing his small stature even further. Despite this, or perhaps because of it, Josiah was certain that this was the Archangel.
    They were brought before him, no more than a couple of metres away, and the Piranhas formed a rough circle around them - it seemed that everyone wanted a decent view of the proceedings.
    The elfin woman who had escorted them gingerly placed their stash of weapons at the foot of the throne - for so it seemed to be - while the pony-tailed one stepped forward to whisper into the man’s ear. After a moment he nodded, and all three of their guards moved aside.
    All was silent. Perhaps the Archangel was sizing them up, forming his own judgements about those who stood before him. Perhaps he was thinking what it was he ought to say. For all Josiah could tell, perhaps he had fallen asleep.
    “You know, or have guessed who I am,” said the Archangel in a voice that was smooth, warm and entirely out of place. “You are here, as you requested. You are Deucalion, known as Duke, a respected chemist, searching for the secret of transmutation.” Duke’s small eyes narrowed. “And you are Theano, known as Thee, a mathematician working on sentient equations though they are proving to be elusive.” Theano spluttered incoherently. “And you are Lovecraft, an astronomer, searching the heavens from below the earth, your eyes have mechanical implants that enable you to, among other things, see in the dark.” Lovecraft was silent. “You are Amber, the owner of a certain bookshop in Camden Market, used as a front for various operations of the Square. And you, you are Josiah. Now, state your business.”
    Amber looked at Josiah expectantly, so he stepped forward, still puzzled by how the Archangel knew so much about them and yet said nothing about him. Was he unknown? And if he wasn’t, why would the Archangel keep back his knowledge?
    “We wish to trade,” said Josiah, pushing doubts from his mind, “and form some solid ties between the Square and your company, a relationship that, I’m sure you will agree, could have great benefits to both sides.”
    The Archangel seemed to be mulling this over for a few moments.
    “Perhaps, but relationships must be built on solid foundations. What is it that we are transacting?” A condescending smile flitted around his lips.
    “We are interested in acquiring a certain item that has come into your possession,” continued Josiah. This certainly wasn’t progressing as he had expected. For one thing, no one had tried to kill them.
    “We possess many items. Which do you seek?” The Archangel’s features were impossible to read, despite the fact that he himself was well lit. The sunglasses hid his eyes, true, but his whole face was like a mask.
    “We heard that you had a plasma inducer, and, wishing to seek new partners with whom to deal, we came to you, rather than one of your competitors.”
    “You joke, surely,” replied the Archangel, a small smile breaking through his pale mask, “there are no competitors. This is the only plasma inducer outside of the Circle. Unless you are planning on seeing them, we appear to have a monopoly of the market. The price will be high. What do you offer us?”
    “Guns. We can offer you the latest weaponry the Square is producing, a crate of fifty, plus ammunition, and let me tell you that these are fine items. They fire seven millimetre…”
    Josiah was cut short by a wave of the Archangel’s hand.
    “Guns we have. No matter how advanced you think your guns are, do they do more than kill a man? ”
    Duke stepped forward.
    “Drugs then. Why, we have the finest chemicals in the Deep at our disposal, and can provide you with a crate of whichever material you wish.”
    Once more the Archangel motioned with his hand for silence.
    “Our minds are clouded enough. Do you think we have grown to this level by drowning our thoughts? By clouding out the intellect? You would be a fool to think so - but we are no fools.”
    Theano stepped forward.
    “How about information then, the secrets that the Church tries to hide, powerful knowledge - what the world has forgotten, we have rediscovered.”
    “What use are secrets to men like us? No, knowledge is for scientists. We are practical people, not to be bought off with promises of uncovering the machinations of the cosmos. You will have to do better than that.”
    Josiah watched the Archangel’s hand twitch, the slender muscles tightening and loosening. Was it a sign of nerves?
    “Then perhaps we can offer you the return of something that belongs to you,” said Amber carefully.
    “Explain.”
    “This ring,” she said, producing it from her pocket, “is this yours? How much do you value its return?”
    “It is not mine. I wear no rings. Though perhaps it belongs to someone I know. Perhaps not. We have many rings and many necklaces. And its worth to me? It is a trifle. If I wished I could have another dozen fashioned in an instant. If I desired it, every man or woman here would cut off their ring fingers and hand them to me. Loyalty is worth ten times its weight in gold.”
    “You should be aware that the Square does not appreciate interference,” said Josiah, “we would take a dim view of others meddling in our affairs.” It was a dangerous tone to take but he needed to know why the Nightmares had searched his apartment.
    “Of course. As would I.”
    “It is a matter of utmost seriousness should a gang be found to be interfering with the Square. Though we lack military forces, we control the lifeblood of the Deep. Of course, if this ring had found its way into our possession through no fault of yours, I’m sure we would both wish to see the culprits caught.” Josiah didn’t know what he was fishing for but the Archangel’s silence was unnerving him.
    “I dislike your insinuations,” replied the Archangel languidly, his hand twitching all the more, “and I have changed my mind. The plasma inducer is no longer for sale.”
    For a few seconds, all was still. No one spoke. No one moved.
    “May we leave then?” asked Lovecraft slowly.
    “Leave?” The Archangel smiled ever so slightly. “There are sixty of us and five of you. You have no weapons. We,” at a small gesture from their leader, the Nightmares drew their guns, “have many. So tell me, why should we let you leave?”
    He had known this was going to happen. What the hell were they going to do now? Duke had said to trust him but… He thought he would try reason.
    “Firstly, you don’t want to kill scientists. The Square knows we are here. You would never be able to do business with us again.”
    “We have other sources, far beyond your small-scale operation. Try again.”
    “Well, secondly,” interrupted Duke, a devilish grin on his broad face, “we planted a bomb in the corner of the room, just over there.” He pointed to the other side of the platform. Several heads turned to look, but not the Archangel’s.
    “You joke, surely,” he began, “it is not possible…”
    Out of the corner of his eye, Josiah saw Theano flip open a section of her gloved hand, and pressed a button concealed within. She has a false limb, he thought momentarily. Then all hell broke loose.

*  *  *

    “Drop your guns, I said, I won’t ask again.”
    Lovecraft threw his gun on the floor to join Josiah’s, eyes full of malice, lip twitching uncontrollably.
    “Get up,” said the harsh voice by his ear.
    He stood up slowly, staying behind the cover of the drinks machine.
    “Turn around!”
    Josiah followed the instructions, and was faced by an olive-skinned man, with half his left ear missing, grinning viciously. He pressed the cold gun-metal into Josiah’s neck.
    “Let’s not have any funny business, right? I don’t want to kill you - your friend, though, well that’s a different matter. Now, let’s get…”
    He was cut off by a thin, whistling sound, a small flash of light, and a knife that buried itself in his hand. His fingers contracted, spasmodically pulling the trigger, but the impact had knocked his hand aside and he missed completely. A second sliver of light flew towards them and drove itself into the man’s neck. He made a gurgling sound as blood gushed through the new hole in his throat. Soon he lay still.
    “Watch your back next time,” said Duke, who had suddenly appeared close behind them, retrieving his throwing-knives in the process.
    Josiah picked up his gun and began to fire once more.
    “We need an exit!” shouted Duke.
    “There,” said Lovecraft, pointing into the thick smoke, “one of the tunnels.”
    Josiah tried to see it but couldn’t - he had to trust Lovecraft’s superior eyes. It would be okay for them, but Theano and Amber were in the pit.
    The background thunder of guns abruptly stopped. The sudden absence was almost as terrible as the violent noise had been. All was eerily dark and still. It seemed as if everyone had been snatched away by an unknown force. Josiah, who had thought that nothing could have been as terrifying as being in a real gun battle, found that there was a thing far worse - the silence of a hunter stalking its prey, the panther moving like liquid velvet - what else could the silence portend?
    It was Duke that shook him from his nightmarish thoughts:
    “This is our chance,” he said, nudging Josiah into action. “Lovecraft, give covering fire.” Lovecraft nodded silently. “Amber! Thee! Get over here! Now!”
    Josiah thought he saw a moment of indecision on the faces of the two women before they dove out from behind the cover of the steel barrels and fled towards the nearest flight of steps out of the pit.
    At that moment the staccato gunfire began once more. Lovecraft fired into the darkness, calmly taking aim at each burst of light. Theano was firing from the hip as she ran. In the strobe lighting Amber’s face looked pale and strange, distorted by fear and panic.
    A plume of red above their heads caused all of the scientists to look up simultaneously, as a hailstorm of lead rained down around them. Miraculously, they all seemed to escape unharmed.
    They reached the stairs and bounded up them desperately - not far to go now. Josiah steeled himself and fired his gun. They needed more time.
    A stray shot hit the stack of metal barrels and they began to sway alarmingly. Then, with unbecoming grace, the titanium barrels toppled, falling over each other like drops of water in a fountain. As they descended, the light of gunfire diffracted off their silvery surfaces, showering the room in colour. Had Amber not moved a few moments earlier then… no, he couldn’t bear to think about it.
    Just then Amber screamed in pain and almost fell. A bullet had caught her calf muscle and dark fluid was gushing down her leg. Somehow she managed to keep going.
    Josiah’s own leg felt like it was on fire as he watched Amber stumble towards them, every step a nightmare of pain. He should stay where he was, safe, behind cover. Josiah knew this, and still found himself running towards her. Just as her leg gave way, he caught her in his arms. She grimaced with pain and leant on his shoulders. Together, they hobbled to the exit. Everything would be alright.
    Like an indoor firework, another explosion illuminated the station in lurid red. Shards of red-hot metal clattered to the floor. They had to get out of here now. Just a couple more steps, they were almost there.
    They made it. Amber collapsed into a smile, breathing raggedly but alive. Theano was looking flustered but seemed otherwise unhurt.
    “Are you alright? Can you walk?” Josiah asked Amber.
    “I’ll be fine,” she replied.
    “Right,” said Duke, “now for the exit. Lovecraft, you lead the way. I’ll take up the rear, give you some covering fire.”
    The others nodded and began to move out. Lovecraft darted out of cover, moving jerkily but quickly. Not for the first time, he reminded Josiah of some kind of insect. Theano and Amber followed, then Josiah. It was going to be okay, they were nearly out. Through the smoke and the darkness Josiah could see the exit.
    Then, without really looking, he saw something in the pit. His heart stopped. Parts were of nickel, parts of ivory, parts had certainly been filed or sawn out of rock crystal. It was smaller than he had expected but it glimmered as beautifully as he had imagined it would. It was the plasma inducer!
    “Give me a moment,” he said to Duke, as he turned and ran for the object gleaming in the pit.
    “Josiah! What the hell are you doing!?”
    He heard Duke’s call but barely registered it as he ran to the pit and leapt inside. At last! It was within his reach and with it, perhaps, he would take that great leap into the future. He could discover the destiny of the human race, of the planet earth, of the universe itself. Clasping the precious object to his chest, Josiah ran to the nearest steps and clambered up them.
    Duke was standing not far away, his teeth gritted, a gun roaring in his hands. Nearly at the exit now. Josiah looked up once more and saw Duke’s hand moved up to his shoulder as a bullet passed clean through it, exploding in vivid red out the other side. His clothes became drenched in his own blood. Somehow, he was able to keep standing.
    “If you’re quite ready!” he barked at Josiah.
    Josiah excused his anger, and together they ran towards the exit.
    Inferno Shells! The realisation dawned suddenly as they ran. Somehow the Nightmares had had Inferno Shells! A chill ran down Josiah’s spine as they slipped down the tunnel to safety - Inferno Shells were only used by the Circle and their agents. What did it all mean?
    “Josiah, you have a piece of metal in your arm,” Amber said urgently.
    He was about to deny it and to say that it was Amber who was injured, not him, when he looked down and found it was quite true - he did have a piece of metal embedded in his left arm. He gazed at it curiously - how did it get there and why didn’t it hurt? It looked so strange jutting out of him.
    Howls of frustration drifted down the tunnels behind them as they hurried out of King’s Cross.