The Eye of Neptune (19 page)

‘You set that monster on Blizzard’s ship,’ Dakkar said, staring at Cryptos. ‘You sent it to attack me, didn’t you? And the giant crab at the castle was your doing.’

‘Tests for both you and the creatures. My Qualar have been shepherding them towards you throughout your odyssey. But our plans go far beyond the brute force of such beasts,’ Cryptos sneered, striding across the room and pulling back a curtain. ‘And I think you’ll be willing to help me.’

Dakkar gave a gasp. Three large glass tanks were set into the wall. Strange eel-like creatures swam over and under each other in the first. They were thick and black, squirming around in the slimy green water that filled the tank. The second tank held a man, ragged and scorched. Dirt smudged his face and his long, grey beard. He pressed his calloused hands against the thick glass. In the third, glowering in the corner, sat Georgia.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Choices and Threats

Before Dakkar could say a word, the door banged open and two more guards dragged a man into the throne room. He looked a younger man than Oginski, with a head of thick, curly brown hair and a pointed nose. Where Oginski stood tall and muscle-bound, he stooped slightly, carrying a lot of weight around his middle.

‘Uncle Robert!’ Georgia cried, jumping up and hammering on the glass.

‘Georgia?’ Fulton gasped, peering through his glasses into the tank and then glancing at Cryptos. ‘What’s going on? What is my niece doing here?’

‘How touching,’ Cryptos sighed as Fulton tried to run at the glass only to be restrained by the Qualar guards. ‘Your niece came to rescue you, Fulton. She shows spirit. I admire that in anyone.’

‘Let her go!’ Fulton demanded.

‘No,’ Cryptos said, strolling over to the glass tanks. ‘Oh, don’t worry. I won’t harm her, just as long as you cooperate.’

‘We’ve helped you build the
Nautilus
,’ Oginski said, narrowing his eyes at Cryptos. ‘What else would you have us do?’

‘You don’t fool me, Oginski. I know you’ve been looking for ways to use the
Nautilus
to escape. Why else would you cooperate with me? No, my eye is on a bigger prize. Deep below the sea that surrounds this island,’ Cryptos said, running a finger down the glass, ‘lies the Eye of Neptune, an ancient source of unlimited power.’

‘That sounds like hocus-pocus,’ Fulton sneered. ‘Tribal legends? I thought you’d be more rational than believe in that, Cryptos.’

‘I believe that the Eye is a Voltalith,’ Cryptos said. ‘Oh, that got your attention, didn’t it?’

‘What’s a Voltalith?’ Dakkar said, frowning at Oginski.

‘A fragment of rock that holds a static charge,’ Cryptos cut in before Oginski could answer. ‘I believe the rock is from deepest space. It crackles with electricity.’

‘But we’re engineers,’ Fulton said, shrugging. ‘We know nothing of electricity.’

‘You’re a brilliant natural philosopher, Mr Fulton,’ Cryptos said, smirking. ‘But you’re a poor liar. Both the submersibles you built had devices that electrocuted attackers. You know enough to help me harness the power of the Eye of Neptune. Once it’s cut into smaller pieces, it will power a whole fleet of submersibles and drive all manner of machines.’

‘Why don’t the Qualar get it for you?’ Dakkar demanded.

‘The Qualar are a superstitious race. Their fear of it is even greater than their fear of me,’ Cryptos said with a shrug. ‘On a more practical note, any living thing that goes near the Eye dies a horrible death.’

‘Then you could use that
Nautilus
craft to get it,’ Dakkar countered.

‘It isn’t quite ready,’ Cryptos said. ‘Your little craft will do the job nicely, with a few modifications.’

‘So you want to use the
Liberty
to get this Eye of Neptune?’ Dakkar said, his arms folded.

‘You’ve proven yourself to be an adept captain,’ Cryptos said, smiling. ‘If you collect the Eye of Neptune for me, Georgia will remain safe.’

‘The boy can’t go,’ Oginski burst out. ‘I’ll do it.’

‘Prince Dakkar will go,’ Cryptos said. He tapped on the glass and pointed to the bedraggled man in the glass tank. ‘This man here tried to escape from my mines on the island. He will provide us with an accurate demonstration of what will happen to Georgia if you do not do as I say.’

Cryptos pulled a lever in the wall and the glass partition between the man and the eels slid up. The man’s eyes widened and he slammed his fists against the sides as water and eels sloshed into his tank.

‘Technically speaking, they aren’t eels,’ Cryptos said, sounding mildly surprised. ‘They’re a kind of fish found in the swamps of the southern Americas. Observe.’

The eels slithered around the man’s legs. He pushed himself against the back of the tank. Suddenly the water vibrated and the man shook, his eyes rolling back in his head. For a moment, he went rigid, his hair standing on end, then he slumped into the water, dead.

‘A massive electric shock delivered by the fish,’ Cryptos said. ‘I didn’t even have to breed them to make them so large.’

Georgia crushed herself back against the far wall of her tank and stared in horror at the dead man as the eels slithered over him.

Fulton rushed to Georgia’s tank and put his hands against it.

‘You monster,’ Dakkar spat. ‘That man was defenceless.’

‘You think your precious Oginski’s hands are so clean?’ Cryptos said, his voice hardening. ‘Does your father not execute prisoners?’

‘My father would make you pay for the way you’ve treated me!’ Dakkar said coldly.

‘Interesting,’ Cryptos muttered, stroking his beard. ‘You really don’t know, do you?’

‘Know what?’ Dakkar growled back, trying not to stare at the slumped figure in the water.

‘Have you heard from your father lately?’ Cryptos said, raising his eyebrows.

Dakkar saw Oginski tense. ‘No,’ he muttered. ‘He has many enemies. Oginski has to keep our location secret –’

Cryptos cut Dakkar off with a bellowing laugh. ‘Foolish boy!’ he said. ‘So my brother even has to keep your whereabouts secret from your own father, does he?’

‘I don’t know,’ Dakkar said, casting a searching glance at Oginski.

‘You were kidnapped!’ Cryptos yelled in triumph. ‘Cast your mind back to that day in Liverpool. Were there any formal introductions? Any letters confirming identification?’

‘No,’ Dakkar said, his chest tightening as he thought back to the day he’d first met Oginski. ‘We were being chased. But I knew Count Oginski was going to meet me.’

‘
My
name is Oginski!
I
was going to meet you!’ Cryptos barked. ‘I sent my men to collect you but my brother beat me to it. Your father never intended him to mentor you – it was me he expected you to meet.’

Dakkar looked from Cryptos to Oginski, who lowered his gaze to the floor.

‘I couldn’t bear to see you twisted by his philosophy,’ Oginski said, his voice barely a whisper. ‘When I heard through my contacts that your father was sending you to Cryptos, I knew I had to act.’

‘You see, Dakkar, your father wants you to be a strong, single-minded ruler. I’ve watched you grow up and I spotted your potential many years ago,’ Cryptos said. ‘I offered to mentor you, to train you in the arts of intrigue and espionage, to become a weapon to liberate not just your own nation but all nations of the world. Your father thought I would train you to become the next Rajah of Bundelkhand but I would make you so much more. I would make you my heir, the next Count Cryptos.’

A thousand questions tore at Dakkar. The last four years of trusting Oginski, of growing to respect him, flew through his mind.
How could Oginski lie to me like that? Does my father want me to be like Cryptos?
Deep in his heart, Dakkar knew what his father was capable of.

‘There’s only one question you have to ask yourself, Dakkar,’ Oginski said, not meeting his gaze. ‘Are you a monster?’

‘I disagree,’ Cryptos said, meshing his fingers together and resting them under his chin. ‘You have to ask yourself about your duty to obey your father. You have to ask yourself how great can you be?’ Cryptos clapped his hands and the guards grabbed Dakkar’s arms. ‘Enough. You will retrieve the Eye of Neptune for me or Georgia Fulton will pay the price. Take them back to their rooms to think on what has been said.’

The guards half carried, half dragged the struggling Dakkar out of the room with Cryptos’s parting words ringing in his ears.

‘You have a choice to make, Prince of Bundelkhand,’ he called after Dakkar. ‘Cryptos or Oginski. Duty or deception. Life or death.’

Chapter Twenty-Three

The Decision

Sleep didn’t come easily to Dakkar. The lock had been replaced with a bolt on the outside and a guard leaned heavily on the door. Dakkar could hear him shifting position every now and then.

As he lay in his room, Dakkar’s stomach felt heavy and his mind wound round and round over the same thoughts, like one of Oginski’s clockwork engines. How could Oginski have kidnapped him and tricked him into believing that he was Dakkar’s mentor for all those years? Oginski was surely as devious as Cryptos. And was he as ruthless? He remembered the two men who had attacked him in Liverpool. Oginski had dealt with them with singular efficiency.

He remembered his father looking down on him on that last day. ‘You are going to learn how to be a leader of men,’ his father had said. Dakkar could see his sunken eyes, the long, grey beard barely concealing the pinched cheekbones. ‘You will be taught by the best, by a nobleman who has known our hardships.’

His father meant Cryptos. His father wanted him to become a force for destruction, but Oginski had other ideas.

The morning brought Cryptos to Dakkar’s door. He stood tall and gaunt, a high, bejewelled collar round his neck.

‘Before we embark on this voyage,’ he said, rubbing his hands together, ‘I’ve taken Oginski and Fulton off fitting out my
Nautilus
and tasked them with modifying the
Liberty
. As you will be the captain of the craft, I think it’s only sensible that you’re involved in these developments.’

‘Whatever you say,’ Dakkar muttered dully. His head ached and he felt tired.

‘Just remember that any foolish trickery will result in the death of your friend,’ Cryptos said, laying a cold hand on Dakkar’s shoulder as they walked out into the corridor. ‘Watch my brother. Is he truly any different to me? Would you defy your father to follow him?’

Dakkar shrugged Cryptos’s hand away and followed the guards down to the cavern where the
Liberty
lay, dwarfed by the mighty
Nautilus
. Despite his tormented thoughts, Dakkar still marvelled at the huge sub.

The
Liberty
was dangling from a winch above Oginski and Fulton’s heads when Dakkar arrived. The two men looked pale and drawn. Clearly neither of them had slept well either.

‘Once I have the Eye of Neptune,’ Cryptos said, pointing at the
Nautilus
, ‘and it is installed in this craft, she will be ready. She will be invincible!’

Cryptos swept away, laughing, leaving Dakkar standing face to face with Oginski.

‘Ah, Dakkar,’ Oginski said, clearing his throat. ‘We need to attach some kind of lifting device to the front of the submersible.’

‘We favour pincers of some description, if we can manufacture them,’ Fulton added, pushing his spectacles up his nose.

Discussing the practicalities of the modifications to the
Liberty
distracted Dakkar, and for a while he forgot about his dilemma. Cryptos’s island fortress proved to be well equipped and Dakkar found himself in a cavernous forge holding strips of glowing red iron with tongs while Oginski hammered them into shape.

‘I did think about telling you the truth,’ Oginski grunted between hammer blows. ‘But I feared your reaction. I couldn’t risk you defecting to Cryptos.’

‘But why me?’ Dakkar asked, shifting the iron to a better position for Oginski to bash.

‘Kazmer and I were in India when you were born,’ Oginski said, pausing at the anvil for a moment. ‘It wasn’t long after the Siege of Seringapatam,’ he continued, plunging the metal into water and grimacing at the steam that hissed up into his face. ‘We’d been supplying the Sultan Tipu with rockets to fight the English but it had come to nought. Your father sheltered us when the English won and Kazmer recognised a kindred spirit in him.’

‘My father? Like Cryptos?’ Dakkar growled. ‘Never.’

‘Search your heart, Dakkar,’ Oginski said softly, then rammed another strip into the burning hot coals. ‘Your father is a brutal man. Like many of us, he has had to fight from the moment he could stand.’

‘So Cryptos and my father made a deal?’ Dakkar said, getting ready to pluck the iron from the coals.

‘When you were old enough, Kazmer was to take you and mould you into a living weapon,’ Oginski said, resuming his hammering. He fashioned the iron into a sharp point and held it up as if to illustrate what he was saying. ‘Your father had taught you the martial arts of fist, spear and sword. Your time in the English schools hardened your heart against its people. Kazmer was to show you the ways of your enemies. The Europeans.’