The Broken Sun (19 page)

‘But surely you could have just moved to another place and started over,' Scarlet
said.

‘Yes, but my ancestors were already feared and hated by the other ancient peoples.
Many of those other races banded together to wipe us out, so we fled across the seas
until, eventually, we hid here and built this new city.'

‘But you're still serving these gods,' Scarlet said. ‘Why?'

‘Because Tsala and Kaleela are soon to return.' Etruba nodded towards the city. ‘The
mighty spire has begun to glow. It is said that when it shines brighter than the
sun, the gods will return.'

As Jack glanced back towards the heart of the city, the ball still slowly changing
colour, a gunshot split the air.

A tall man, flanked by two armed guards, had stepped through the mural entrance.
He had a face as hard as granite and a large, misshapen nose.

‘Allow me to introduce myself,' he called. ‘I am
George Darrow and I must thank you
all. I never would have found New Atlantis without your assistance.'

George Darrow!
The man who visited Clarice's grandfather.

But how does he fit into this mystery?

Etruba stared at the newcomers with hatred. The guards both had their guns trained
on him. ‘The secrets of Atlantis must not leave the city,' Etruba said. ‘That is
blasphemy!'

‘I'm afraid I can't honour your ancient religion,' Darrow smirked. ‘I have my own
plans and Atlantean technology will enable me to complete them. Now'—he nodded at
the gun in Etruba's hand—‘I suggest you lower your weapon.'

‘I had hoped there would be no more need for bloodshed.' The Atlantean seemed to
be speaking to himself. ‘My brother Andana wanted Professor Clarke and the others
killed, but I said that too much blood had been spilled over the centuries.'

‘Don't be stupid!' Darrow snapped. ‘Lower your gun!'

‘It is better that Atlantis fall than be handed over to people like you.'

A weapon fired. Jack dragged Scarlet away from the altar. ‘Run!' he yelled.

He felt the sting of rock shards as a bullet rebounded off the altar. Scarlet screamed.
Jack urged her down the temple steps towards the nearest building. They scrambled
around the corner as another bullet ricocheted off the stonework.

‘I advise you to return.' Darrow's voice followed them. ‘I will make you suffer if
you make me look for you.'

Jack steered Scarlet through a nearby doorway. Inside was a living room, its ceiling
covered in the same paint as the cavern roof. The table in the centre was stone,
but the surrounding chairs were made from some kind of glass.

A quick search revealed no weapon. There was little here in the way of personal possessions.
They tore into another room: a bedroom almost as sparse, except for a doll on the
bed. A hairbrush made of the same glassy material lay on a stone dressing table.
It looked like the owner could return at any moment: it was hard to believe they
had been dead for years.

Scarlet urged Jack on, and they scuttled through to a kitchen made up of a strange
combination of ancient and modern features. A stone benchtop. Metal cabinets. Saucepans
and pots and a glass cooktop.

‘The window,' Jack said, pointing.

They climbed through to a small back garden, overgrown with unfamiliar plants and
surrounded by a bronze wall. Seeing the vegetation reminded Jack why they had come
here in the first place. The Sleeping Death. Phoebe had described it as having a
purple thorn and ivory leaves. But nothing here fit that description.

Another shot rang out.

‘That sounded close,' Jack said.

‘We need to get out.'

‘We need to find the plant first. Then we'll find a way out.'

‘I don't look forward to going back up those stairs again.'

‘There's got to be more than one way out of the city,' Jack said. ‘We just need to
find it.'

They scrambled over another wall, dropping into a back lane. Their footsteps on the
cobblestone streets sounded like a stampede. Zigzagging across several city blocks,
they arrived at an outer wall.

‘Jack,' Scarlet said quietly. ‘Look at that.'

She pointed to a crumpled piece of machinery in the bushes. At first Jack thought
it was a sculpture: a strange contraption of metal and bone. Then he looked more
closely and realised it was a mechanical frame attached to a skeleton. It had once
been a dog. The metal cap now sat loosely on its skull. The outside was smooth, but
jagged needles poked from underneath into where the brain would have been. The remainder
of the structure was some sort of exoskeleton, a complicated network of gears, pistons
and cogs.

‘What on earth?'

‘It's what Darrow was talking about,' Scarlet said. ‘It's a Living Machine.'

‘But isn't it a dog?'

‘It was, but not anymore. The skull cap must form some sort of interface between
the machine and the animal.'

‘So this is what Darrow is after. But why?'

‘You saw those machine men outside. He must be trying to perfect the process with
Atlantean technology.'

‘But that's crazy.'

‘To us, but not to him.' She looked past Jack. ‘Is that a doorway?'

It was a dark crevice in the rock face, nestled behind some orange-leafed trees.
Jack and Scarlet raced down the lane.

A figure appeared from around a corner.

Etruba.

He leaned unsteadily against a wall, the gun still in his hand, a patch of blood
staining his shirt.

‘You should put down that gun,' Jack said. ‘You're injured and—'

‘I am the last of my people,' Etruba said. ‘When I am gone, no-one will remain to
safeguard the secrets of the city. Tsala will be angry if he returns to find his
people gone and their secrets shared.'

Jack thought it sounded awfully ominous. ‘What do you mean?'

‘It will be safer for our world if he does not return.'

‘What are you going to do?' Scarlet asked.

‘What must be done.' Etruba nodded to the exit. ‘Go. That way leads out.'

Jack didn't want to leave him to die alone. ‘Are you sure?'

‘Go!'

They didn't need to be told twice. They ran. Passing
an intersection, a shot rang
out, a bullet ricocheting off a nearby wall. One of Darrow's men was behind. Scarlet
dragged Jack into a side alley and they kept running, weaving across city blocks.

Jack was disoriented. ‘Where—'

‘This way.'

Scarlet led him through a house and out the other side. They were close to the cavern
wall now where a long pathway stretched in both directions. Trees shrouded an exit.
They pushed through the undergrowth and eased the door open to a set of stairs.

Turning back to look once more at New Atlantis, Jack felt a pang of sadness. This
great city had been lost for so long. To leave it now…

No!

‘I completely forgot!' Jack said. ‘The plant!'

‘What?'

‘The Sleeping Death! We need it to save Gloria and Professor Clarke!'

The ground began to shake. It felt like an earthquake, but it did not subside. Jack's
eyes searched the cavern until he spotted Etruba at a temple on the far side. The
small man stood in front of a mosaic of a winged chariot, his hands pressed onto
one of the hubs.

‘He must be activating some sort of machine,' Scarlet said.

‘To do what?' Jack asked.

‘I'm not sure. It's not to play music.'

A distant roar shook the cavern, growing louder with each passing second. Water shot
from the stone heads set high on the walls, the streams crashing into the city like
high-power fire hoses, annihilating thousands of years of civilisation.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

‘I need to go back,' Jack said. ‘You go up the tunnel and find the others.'

‘Are you mad?' Scarlet said. ‘I'm a woman. Not a potted vase.'

They charged back into the streets. The water was now rising dangerously. Thousands
of gallons were pouring in every second. New Atlantis would be swamped within minutes.

‘Do you remember seeing an ivory-coloured plant?' Jack asked.

‘I don't know,' Scarlet said. ‘Was it growing at one of the city squares?'

At the end of the alley they spotted a fountain.

‘There!' she yelled. The noise in the cavern was louder than ever. ‘Let's try that
one!'

Jack cautiously stepped around the cascade of spraying water as they searched the
plants at the base of the fountain.

An ivory-coloured plant
, Jack thought.
With thorns. An ivory plant with thorns.

‘There's nothing here,' he yelled.

‘There's another square!' Scarlet pointed.

They raced to the next fountain. It was like running along the beach at low tide,
the water pulling at their ankles. Crossing an intersection, they spotted one of
Darrow's men, who shot at them. Scarlet dragged Jack into an open doorway and through
the house to another back lane.

After more zigzagging, they reached the city square. By now the water was up to their
knees, making every step a struggle. Scarlet's arm shot out.

‘There! At the base of the statue.'

They were lucky. A few more minutes and the plant would have been underwater. Its
stalks were long and thin, covered in purple thorns. The same used to poison Professor
Clarke and Gloria. Jack was no judge of plants, but right now it was the most beautiful
thing he had ever seen.

He grabbed handfuls of leaves and stuffed them down his shirt.

‘Come on!' he yelled.

As they took off towards the exit, the lighting
system failed, and for one horrible
instant, Jack thought they would forever remain in this underground tomb, swallowed
by darkness and drowned by rising waters. Then the ceiling flickered back to life.

The water was at their waists as they climbed steps to the crevice in the rock, heading
back towards the passageway.

Craaack!

A section of the roof—as large as an elephant—fell, crashing into the city. The light
flickered alarmingly, this time only returning to half-power.

Jack looked back to where Etruba had started the self-destruct sequence. The small
man lay motionless at the foot of the mural as the water rose around his face and
he disappeared under the rising tide.

The chamber shook again, a massive crack forming across the centre of the ceiling.

‘Come on,' Scarlet said, grabbing Jack's hand. ‘Let's get out of here.'

She dragged him up the stairs. The earth shook violently. What if the tunnel ahead
was already collapsed?

Jack gripped the compass in his pocket.

‘Almost there,' he said, as much to Scarlet as himself. ‘Only a few more feet.'

The lights brightened once more then failed, drowning them in darkness. Jack crashed
into Scarlet.

We've still got matches
, Jack thought.
We can use them for light. But what if there's
no way out at the top? What if Etruba was lying?

Scarlet nudged him. ‘I can see light,' she said. ‘Over there.'

They scrambled up the remaining stairs into a small cave, strangely quiet despite
the chaos below. Vines and plants shrouded the entrance. Jack and Scarlet tore a
hole in the foliage and pushed through into the outside world, fresh air against
their faces.

Jack cried out in relief. Bright daylight streamed through the canopy. The smell
of the jungle was intoxicating after so many hours underground. Jack felt dizzy
with elation as he hugged Scarlet. They were safe.

‘Jack,' Scarlet murmured.

‘Yes?' He drew back from her.

She was looking past him, her face filled with horror. Jack turned to see armed guards
with guns trained on them, the two machine men behind. George Darrow stepped from
the shadows.

‘Good,' he said, smirking. ‘Some new specimens for my experiment.'

Jack and Scarlet were bound and helpless on the ground in minutes. Jack stared up
at the machine men. Then he saw dried blood on their arms.

‘Where's Mr Doyle?' Jack demanded. ‘What have you—'

One of Darrow's henchmen cuffed him across the face and placed a sack over his head.
A punch to the stomach then drove the air from his lungs. Desperately trying to breathe,
Jack felt metal hands lift him as he was thrown unceremoniously over a machine man's
shoulder.

He blacked out. When he next woke, he felt blood on his face and in his eyes. The
sack had been pulled off his head. He saw a floor, metal bars and a timber ceiling.

Jack sat up, groaning. The restraints were also gone.

He and Scarlet had been imprisoned in two cells. Bars ran from floor to ceiling.
Jack called to Scarlet, but she didn't stir.

A sound came from the door and Jack looked up to see a face watching him through
a small window in its centre. The man had grey eyes and a moustache.

Jack leapt to his feet. ‘I'll kill you if you've harmed her!' he yelled. ‘I swear
it.'

‘Sure you will, kid.' The man looked bored, as if he'd heard similar threats before.
‘Nice to see you're awake. Don't worry: your friend will be fine.'

‘Who are you people?' Jack asked.

‘You can call me Rick. You don't need to know more than that.'

‘Why are you doing this?'

‘Why does anyone do anything? It pays well.'

‘What are you? Some sort of mercenary?'

‘You say that like it's a bad thing.' Rick smirked. ‘I'll get Mr Darrow for you.'

The window slid shut. Jack saw a tiny porthole on the other side of the room. Edging
towards it, he glimpsed sea, a patch of land, the black balloon of an airship. They
were high above the ocean on board the vessel that had attacked the
Explorer
.