Tesla: A Teen Steampunk/Cyberpunk Adventure (Tesla Evolution Book 1) (24 page)

“Two’s fine. I’m working on One. Get Bernheart on the cannons and you see to the towers.”
 

Nikola turned and ran toward the city center. Melanie and Sebastian emerged from the other side.
 

“You’re meant to be at the east gate,” he shouted at Sebastian. “Melanie, get him there instantly.”

“The cyborgs!” Sebastian cried. “They’re under the city.”

“Where under the city?”

Sebastian closed his eyes. He spun around and pointed to a spot on the ground. “Down there. Is anything important down there?”

Melanie and Nikola looked at each other.

“The batteries!” cried Nikola.

“Gavin!” cried Melanie.

They both turned to the low building.

“If the cyborgs get to the batteries they could blow the whole place sky high,” Nikola said. Without turning around he continued. “Sebastian, stay here. Stay safe. We’ll be back as soon as we can.”

Nikola and Melanie ran through the door and slammed it shut behind them. Nikola slammed a great beam across the door.
 

“If something goes wrong,” he said, “it’s best to keep the trouble localized.”
 

They could hear the distant rumbling of a wild waterway. Nikola grabbed one of the lanterns and lit it. A dull glow spread out, allowing the three of them to see.

“Sebastian! I told you to wait outside,” Nikola said.

“You also said to stay safe,” Sebastian said defiantly. “My best chance of that’s staying with Melanie.”

“You’re not making this easier. Make sure you stick close by.”
 

Nikola turned and made his way down a narrow, twisting staircase. The other two followed closely behind, keeping within the glow of the lantern. As they descended, the sound of rushing water became louder. They emerged onto a small landing with exits on either side. Sebastian pointed to the right. The sound of the water was deafening.
 

They crept down the corridor, past several doors, and into an enormous cavern. The walls emitted a gentle greenish-yellow glow that illuminated the cavern’s contents.
 

Sebastian stroked his hand down the wall, revealing it was covered in soft lichen. His hand glowed in the dark. He placed a handprint on Melanie’s back and chuckled.
 

“What is this place?” he whispered.

“It’s an ancient underground mine,” Nikola replied. He stopped.
 

Across the expanse of the cave was the giant turbine, whining away, half submerged in the roaring underground river. Several cyborgs were cutting into the side with giant lightguns. It took two cyborgs to hold one weapon. There was a large explosion as the generator sheared and collapsed in on itself. The turbine toppled into the water, forming a dam.
 

Water poured up over the riverbank and flooded the cave floor. It knocked over the cyborgs. They convulsed and were lost under the wild water. It rushed over to the enormous battery cage and swept around and up, engulfing it. The cage sparked then exploded upward with such force the roof above it cracked and shattered, raining debris down into the cavern. The remains of a building came crashing through the roof, spewing rubble.
 

“Get out of here,” shouted Nikola.
 

They turned and ran back. Water was rising and rapidly sweeping toward them.

“I have to stop it or it could take out the other turbine,” Nikola said. “Melanie, get Gavin. Sebastian, get back to the stairs.”

They all ran with the water lapping at their feet. It was at their knees by the time they were back in the corridor. Nikola searched along the wall until he found a concealed lever. He pulled it and the roof behind them collapsed, sealing the passage. Melanie disappeared into one of the rooms.
 

Nikola grabbed Sebastian by his collar and dragged him back to the stairs. “Stay here until Melanie gets here with Gavin, she’ll need help with the light,” he said. He handed his lantern to Sebastian and took off into the dark corridor.
 

A few moments later Sebastian saw another lantern flare up then disappear into the dark depths of the corridor. The water from the burst river had been substantially blocked, leaving only minor points where it was getting through. A small rivulet trickled past and several moments later he heard the splashing of a couple of sets of feet.
 

Melanie appeared, supporting Gavin, who appeared to be partly unconscious.

“Let’s go,” she said.

“Shouldn’t we wait for Nikola?”

“No, he has other things to deal with.”

They made their way up the stairs, made treacherously slippery by their wet feet, until they reached the door. Sebastian heaved at the bar until he could free it from the catch and they burst out into the inferno that was the city.

There was a flash of light at a nearby building, followed by a loud explosion. There was a whistling sound as something small and dark roared above them. Then another, and another.

“Cannons! They’ve got them working,” shouted Melanie.

There was an ear-piercing screech as a dragon fell from the sky with smoke pouring from its body. It disappeared over the city wall and there was a resounding crash as it smashed into the ground. An explosion followed, lighting up the night sky.
 

A muted cheer came from the roof of the building as the exhausted team let out a quiet cheer. Moments later the building was engulfed in flames as another dragon burnt it out of existence. Men jumped from the roof, but the result of the fall was just as bad as staying on the roof.

There was another volley of shots from surrounding buildings. The building on fire had given the military a definite target. The dragon had nowhere to go as cannonballs came in from all sides, and it was knocked around brutally until it plummeted down and was engulfed in the flames of the building it had set on fire.

There was a much louder cheer. The cannon teams were already reloading and looking out for the final two dragons.

Nikola appeared out of the low building.

“Two down, three to go,” shouted Melanie.

“You three take shelter in the town hall cellars,” Nikola said. “They’ll protect you.”

The building behind them exploded, its roof launching into the air. Wooden shards rained down around them. The master dragon slowly glided over them, taunting them with its power. It rolled in the air and unleashed another stream of fire into the air.

“Oh, that is big,” said Nikola with the image of the beast reflecting in his eyes.

Thrown emerged out of the dust of the destroyed tesla tower.

“Thrown, bring them down,” Nikola shouted. “And do it now.”

“I lost good men tonight in the tower. Those GSFBs will burn in hell tonight, or I’ll die trying.”

“Thrown, be sensible. If you’re reckless and it takes out that other tower we have nothing.”

There was a chorus of screams. A cannon team abandoned the roof of the bakery as a fireball rolled over them.

“I have a surprise for one of them,” said Thrown. He turned and ran into the second tower.

Above the brewery, a flare rocketed into the air and exploded. Light spread down onto the building and a man standing next to a cannon waved furiously. The dragon turned and swooped in. The man tested his rope for the hundredth time, ran and jumped off the edge of the building as the fire rolled in. The great boilers in the brewery couldn’t take the onslaught any longer. Great vats exploded upwards, collecting the dragon flying above. Beer rained down on the men, who cheered. Finally something good had come out of the night: free beer. The man on the rope cut himself free and ran to join the others.

“That man deserves a medal,” shouted Nikola before disappearing into the tower after Thrown.

31

ON THE CONTROL deck, Thrown was shouting orders. Men were turning big wheels, and a distant hum was building in intensity and volume. The whine of the remaining turbine could be felt through the structure.
 

“The turbine’s good. Charge the dish,” shouted Nikola.
 

Men pulled levers and shouted readings from huge dials. Steam poured from pipes running through the control room.

“Increase pressure on the dish lifter. Engage hydraulics.”

There was a great hissing from the dish on the deck. It lifted slightly then remained buoyant as the hydraulic jacks aligned and readied for direction.

Thrown turned slowly, with dark eyes.
 

The beast was staring straight at him, and the two locked gazes.
 

The beast’s wings slowed in the moment, its engines straining, one eye dark, one glowing red. It blinked and a red beam shot out of its eye. The beam cut into the pipework and the dish lurched to the side. Steam poured into the room, burning men and impairing the view.
 

Thrown stood silent and still among the turmoil. He placed his hand on the young solider in front of him who was manning the levers.

“Fire,” he said.

The lightning swirled and twisted around the bayonet, arcing around the rim of the metal dish. The soldier engaged the amplifier and pulled both levers. The cogs ratcheted into position and the full connection to the batteries below was made.

Fire exploded out of the mouth of the beast and blasted into the control room. Thrown leapt to the side and took shelter behind the great stone walls.

The electricity intensified, then leapt out toward the dragon, wrapping around the creature. The beast shrieked and floundered as its wings began to fail. Gravity claimed it, and it plummeted to the ground. The tail sliced into the cobbles below with the body following, crumpling under its own weight. Its head thrashed around and came to a rest, looking back down the street toward the solid city gates. Its eyes flickered and went dark.

“Reading, Corporal, if you’re still alive,” said Thrown.

“Fifteen percent, sir.”

“How long to get to an operational level?”

“Once we get the pipes patched it’ll take two hours, sir, but the sun is rising. Maybe there’s a chance with the cannons.”

“Most of them melted during the night.”

“Don’t we have anything left to use?” asked the soldier.

“That’s it. There’s nothing left. We’re defenseless.”

*

The room shook so violently that bits of the ceiling cracked and fell to the floor.

“That’s it, I can’t take it anymore,” said Sebastian. He stood up and made his way to the door.

“Hey, Sebastian, you need to stay here,” Melanie called out.
 

“They need me.”

“You can’t do anything.”

He paused with his hand on the doorknob and glanced back over his shoulder. “Time’s running out. We have to do something. And I might surprise a few people.”

“If
he
thinks he can do something,” said Gavin, “then I definitely can.”

“Oh, Gavin, you’re so brave.”

Sebastian rolled his eyes. He quickly opened the door to avoid being sick all over his shoes from the saturated level of sweetness. He exited the building to be greeted by the first rays of a new day.

“With the new day comes new strength,” said Gavin. The others looked at him. He shrugged. “It was something my mom used to say.”

Sebastian nodded. It sounded like something a mom would say.

*

They looked up to catch a last glimpse of the electricity as it arced out from the tower and enveloped the dragon.

“Yes! How many of them are left?” Melanie said.

They searched the skies.
 

“Just the big one,” Sebastian said, pointing to the dragon gliding past.
 

It wasn’t behaving like the others. They had been direct with their actions, but this one appeared to be guided. Someone was making decisions then sending it to do the most destruction.
 

“Oh no,” Sebastian said, “it’s going to finish off the tower.”
 

He sprinted across the square and down the alleyways to get to the rear entrance of the tower. He ran up the stairs to the control level, taking as many steps as he could.
 

Men were shouting at each other, trying to get some semblance of coordination. Steam was still rushing out of the tubes, and no one seemed to be attending to them. The batteries were low. There was a heated debate, which rolled out through the observation windows, over whether there was enough to discharge without damaging the batteries. The winning argument seemed to be that they would be dead if they didn’t.
 

No one noticed as the young boy crept past and stopped in front of the large dish. In the early-morning light, Sebastian could just see another figure standing on the deck below him. He squinted and made out Gavin’s form. Sebastian hid as much as he could while maintaining the older boy in his line of sight.
 

Gavin stood on the deck with some kind of staff in his hand, his other hand raised in a defiant pose. He had found his old cape and it flapped behind him in the gentle warm breeze.

Then Sebastian felt the pain. It was unlike anything he had felt before, an intensity that was ripping him apart. He dropped to his knees.
 

From behind the great tesla tower glided the master beast. It turned and narrowed its horrific eyes at him. He felt its energy being thrown at him, bouncing off the dish behind, intensifying the pain. Lazily it swung its tail, narrowly missing Gavin, who had to jump and roll to avoid it.

“Mom, help me,” Sebastian whispered. Tears streamed down his face. The pain was unrelenting. He raised himself up onto his knees and flung his arms wide.
 

The flapping beast hung in the air, its great wings slowly oscillating, powering its way against the natural forces acting against it. The dragon roared, and flame arced through the sky above Sebastian’s head. He let out a scream and a silent wave exploded outward, spearing from him, bouncing off the dish and toward the beast.
 

The pain strangling his body lessened. The beast shrieked. Its wings failed to flap and it started to fall to the ground as gravity claimed it. It twisted and dived, then soared back up into the sky.